New York woman killed when tree smashes her car during storm identified as wife of N.Y. Yankees executive
NORTH CASTLE, N.Y. -- The woman who died when a tree fell onto her car during Wednesday's storm in Westchester County, New York has been identified as the wife of a New York Yankees executive.
North Castle officials said it happened on Route 128 between School Street and Leisure Farm Drive in the Hamlet of Armonk.
Cathy Tusiani, 50, was killed when the tree hit her car. She was less than a mile from her home when she was killed. It happened as winds gusted past 50 mph.
She is survived by her husband Michael, a senior vice president with the Yankees, and two daughters.
"Words cannot capture the devastating impact that is being felt within the Yankees family after the sudden and tragic loss of Cathy Tusiani. Cathy was beloved by our front office staffers, who were privileged to experience and bear witness to her kindness, intelligence, sense of humor, and great love for her husband, Michael, over the two-plus decades of dedicated service he has provided the Yankees organization and the Steinbrenner family. As we share in the pain and grief with Michael, daughters Alexa and Julia, and the entire Tusiani family, the Yankees stand with them to offer our complete support and unconditional love as we navigate this unimaginable loss," the New York Yankees said in a statement,
The massive tree has now been cut into pieces and left on the side of Route 128, just north of the Armonk Business District.
"Pretty scary. The wind was blowing, I heard a big sound, big branches in the backyard falls off," Edgemont resident Steve Zhou said.
"The lights was flickering. I could hear the wind, sound like something was being thrown around outside. It was very bad, very bad," Yonkers resident Okeana Sharrock said.
In Mount Vernon, cleanup was the focus of Thursday after falling trees took down wires and blocked numerous roads.
"It's been mayhem. We had a major storm come through, high winds, about 65 miles per hour gusts, so we had 20, 30 trees come down, more than 1,000 without power. Was a tough night, but the crews are out here," DPW Commissioner Damani Bush saud,
Central Park Avenue in Greenburgh, a major thoroughfare, was completely shut down after power poles toppled like dominoes, crushing one car and cutting power to many.
Storm topples trees, knocks out power in parts of New York City
Cleanup is still underway after the storm battered the Big Apple with heavy winds and rain. Crews are working as fast as they can to remove downed trees. They're also working to restore power to thousands of homes.
"I didn't want to use my phone too much 'cause I didn't want the battery to run down," Kingsbridge resident Mary Anne King said.
Her power was knocked out around 11 p.m. Wednesday. In that neighborhood alone, around 1,500 people had outages Thursday, Con Ed said. They were part of 10,000 without power across the Bronx.
Lan Huang usually works from home and had to find a café with power.
"I couldn't work. There's no internet, so I have to use my phone, use my backup power," Huang said.
Watch Natalie Duddridge's report
A massive tree toppled in Ewen Park. Another large tree took out power lines and damaged cars on Marble Hill Avenue. Workers were busy cutting up the trees to get them out of the way.
A car was smashed by a tree in Van Cortlandt Park. In Central Park, joggers and bikers came across several downed trees, and were amazed nobody was hurt.
"It's scary. I was looking at all the cherry blossoms, and it's gorgeous. Then I turn the corner saw that - definitely alarming," Central Park-goer Madison Flotteron said.
On the Saw Mill Parkway, a tree came down across two northbound lanes, hitting vehicles and slowing traffic. And in Fresh Meadows, Queens, a branch smashed the rear window of a car.
The Parks Department said people concerned about the health or stability of a tree should call 311.
Crews are prioritizing removal of trees that have fallen on homes, roadways, cars and power lines. They say it could be days before all the debris is cleaned up.