Central Park took a beating Monday as Superstorm Sandy descended upon New York City. City officials closed the park in Sunday in anticipation to protect pedestrians from falling branches and to prepare as much as possible for the oncoming storm. Unfortunately, when all was said and done, over 250 mature trees were uprooted or compromised, countless benches and fences destroyed, serious damage to the park’s ballfields, and many of the structures built for the New York City Marathon collapsed.

“It’s looking pretty bad,” a Central Park Conservancy employee told a reporter from the New Yorker. “There are a lot of downed trees, a lot of snapped trees, a lot of trees uprooted.”

Doug Blonsky, the head of the Central Park Conservancy, alerted would be park-goers yesterday that Conservancy staff are clearing roads and pruning limbs as quickly as possible in an effort to have the park open for the New York City Marathon which takes place on November 4th. The finish line for the marathon is in front of Tavern on the Green.

Hopefully, they will meet their deadline but for now, the park remains closed until further notice.