Mom Hit By Tree In Central Park To Sue City: Reports

CENTRAL PARK, NY — The mother who was nearly paralyzed when a 3,000-pound tree collapsed on top of her and her three children in Central Park is planning to sue the city and the organization responsible for the day-to-day upkeep of the park, according to reports.

Anne Monoky Goldman announced that she will file a $200 million lawsuit against the city and the Central Park Conservancy, she first told Good Morning America in an interview that aired Monday. Goldman's lawyers will argue that the city acted negligently and failed to properly maintain the tree.

"This wasn't a freak accident," attorney Tom Kline told Good Morning America. "This was a preventable accident."

Goldman, 39, suffered four neck fractures when the giant elm tree collapsed on her while she was walking with her children the morning of Aug. 15. Goldman's 2-year-old son suffered a fractured skull and her other two children — an infant and a 4-year-old — were taken to the hospital but discharged the same day.

Goldman shielded her children as the tree collapsed, but barely remembers what happened, she told Good Morning America.

"We got ready that morning in our apartment, it was like a beautiful sunny day" Goldman said. "And went to the park and that's all I remember. The next thing I know, I was at the ICU."

The Central Park Conservancy — the private organization responsible for the park's upkeep — later confirmed that decay and rotting roots caused the tree to collapse.

Goldman told Good Morning America that her family is filing the lawsuit in order to hold the city accountable and to make sure another family isn't harmed in the future.

"We want to make sure that these families are protected." Goldman said. "No one should have to go through what we went through."

Watch the full Good Morning America interview here.

Photo by NYPD Central Park Precinct