Retired statistician who loved long walks killed by falling tree in Queens park during storm

An 85-year old retired statistician who loved nature and long walks was killed in a freak accident when a sudden storm toppled a tree that crushed him in a Queens park.

Zenon Reynarowych died on a footpath inside Forest Park about 8:30 p.m. June 6 as the fast-moving thunderstorm brought powerful winds that downed hundreds of trees across the city.

Scores of New Yorkers were outside enjoying beautiful summer weather when the storm suddenly swept across the city, bringing powerful wind gusts of up to 65 mph.

“If I knew it was going to storm, I would have told him, ‘Zenon, don’t go out,’” said Arlene Lorenzo, a longtime tenant in the Glendale home Reynarowych owned and lived in near the park. “There’s plenty of times I used to say ‘Zen, don’t go out, it’s gonna storm,’ ‘Don’t go out, it’s too cold,’ ‘Don’t go out.’”

“He was a beautiful soul,” she added. “He had a nice smile. He was so sweet.”

Reynarowych had been an adjunct lecturer at Borough of Manhattan Community College, teaching elementary algebra, arithmetic, and mathematics for health sciences until 2023, a college representative said.

He was also an editor and translator of “Applied Statistics: A Handbook of Techniques.”

“He had vertigo, felt dizzy, but he was healthy,” Lorenzo said. “I would tell him all the time, ‘Zenon you need to take care of yourself.’ He would say he is healthy and strong. Nothing is going to happen.”

Lorenzo has lived in the victim’s building 24 years and considered Reynarowych to be family. He was helpful, understanding and supportive as her landlord when she was going through financial problems.

“He loved me and I loved him … We would have three-, four-hour conversations in the hallway,” she said. “Last night I came home and I broke down … He was more like family to me. He did so much for us. It’s sad.”

Reynarowych was born in Ukraine and came to the United States as a child. He had two sons and was separated from his wife, according to neighbors. He inherited his home from his parents.

“He hated what was happening in Ukraine, you know, broke his heart,” Lorenzo said. “That was weighing heavy on him.”

“He had a lot of stories,” she added. “He rode his bike from one country to another when he was younger.”

He loved to talk and was an avid nature lover.

“He would always bring home plants and plants and plants — and even dead plants,” Lorenzo said. “He died where he loved most: (in) nature.”

As a statistician, Reynarowych might have marveled at the odds of the fate that befell him. According to one study, the chances of being killed by a falling tree or tree branch are about one in 10 million.

Neighbor Carolyn Brandlein was left in disbelief.

“What a way to go … I was stunned,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep last night just thinking about him just lying there … He was a nice neighbor. He had a good heart, was very pleasant.”

“What are the odds. It’s unbelievable,” she added. “It was like winning the lottery that no one wants to win.”

She wasn’t surprised Reynarowych was out walking that night.

“He walked everywhere. He had a license but didn’t drive,” Brandlein said. “It was hot and a nice evening. Maybe he just wanted to get fresh air.”

”He never bragged about himself but he was apparently brilliant,” she added. “He was quite well known in his field. But I only know that from other people — he never bragged about it … He didn’t think the way everyone else thought … He was that unique of a person.”

The city Parks Department received 1,950 service requests for downed or damaged trees, 1,241 of them in Queens, after the storm. The agency sent a forestry crew to inspect and remove the fallen tree that killed Reynarowych.

With Rebecca White