Residents reported multiple fallen trees at Cypress Hills Houses as city crews confronted widespread storm damage across New York.
NEW YORK — The death of a New York City Housing Authority worker struck by a falling tree at a Brooklyn housing development is focusing attention on tree conditions at the complex after a nor’easter toppled trees and damaged property across the city.
Leighton Brown, 56, was struck around 3:30 p.m. Saturday while walking through a parking lot at the Cypress Hills Houses at 700 Euclid Ave. in East New York, according to police and local reports. Brown, a NYCHA maintenance supervisor, was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he died. Authorities had not determined whether storm winds caused the tree to fall.
The collapse occurred during widespread severe-weather problems across New York City. The Parks Department reported hundreds of downed-tree calls Saturday as inspectors and forestry crews worked extended shifts responding to damage. Officials cautioned that some service requests could have been duplicates, meaning reports did not necessarily represent the number of individual trees that fell.
At Cypress Hills Houses, residents said Brown’s death was not the only tree collapse they saw during the storm. ABC7 reported that another tree nearby had fallen around 9 a.m. Saturday, several hours before Brown was struck. People who work and live around the development described unease about walking near its large trees as the severe weather continued.
News 12 reported that several residents said some trees around the development had been marked with X’s, which they believed indicated planned removal because of safety concerns. However, it was not clear whether the tree that killed Brown had such a marking or whether it had previously been identified by authorities as hazardous. No verified finding had established that a known defect caused the fatal collapse.
Those unanswered questions are important because the storm itself created hazardous conditions across multiple boroughs. Parks officials said they received large numbers of service requests involving damaged and fallen trees while crews worked 12-hour shifts over the weekend. Strong winds and rain accompanied the nor’easter, but the presence of severe weather alone does not establish why a particular tree failed.
Other tree-related emergencies were reported in Brooklyn and Queens. Four people suffered minor injuries Saturday evening when a tree fell near Kelly Park Playground at East 14th Street and Avenue S in Brooklyn, fire officials said. In Queens, a large tree branch came down on power lines in Glendale, prompting a precautionary evacuation at a nearby home.
Brown’s death also brought grief to Cypress Hills Houses, where tenants knew him through his work as a maintenance supervisor. Residents described him as hardworking and friendly. Friends told local reporters that Brown had received a promotion and was preparing to leave the development after what was expected to be his final week there.
NYCHA confirmed Brown was an employee and said the agency was deeply saddened by his death, extending condolences to his family and the housing authority community. The agency had not publicly announced a finding about the condition of the tree or whether it had been scheduled for removal.
As cleanup continued after the storm, the central circumstances of the fatal collapse remained unresolved. Authorities had confirmed where and when Brown was struck, but no public determination had established whether wind, the tree’s condition or a combination of factors caused it to fall.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.