A New York City Department of Parks and Recreation employee has been arraigned and is facing charges for helping to light a firework that injured a 10-year-old girl at General Douglas MacArthur Park on Staten Island Tuesday evening.
Those who live near the park have become accustomed to the sounds of kids playing, but the sound of an explosion around 6:45 p.m. interrupted the usual peace.
“I’m in the truck, I’m cleaning and I’m cooking, and ambulances and fire departments and cops showed up,” said Charlie B., who owns Pal’s Burgers near the park.
Witnesses said the young child found the firework in the park and then asked several people for a lighter.
Police say on-duty parks employee, 24-year-old Joshua Moe, ultimately provided that lighter, and that he’s now facing charges for endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.
Tyesha Thomas, who manages the nearby business Trio’s Uptown Ice, knows the child well. She has been receiving periodic updates from the child’s mother, who says the child is still in the hospital awaiting surgery and is facing physical therapy.
“She’s a bubbly kid from the neighborhood, always hanging out with the other kids,” Thomas said. “[She’s] a playful, normal 10-year-old child.”
The child is missing parts of her fingers on her left hand and sustained burns to other parts of her body, according to a criminal complaint.
Charlie B. said he heard a similar explosion Monday night during a baseball game, which is why he says he believes the girl found an unused firework somewhere in the park.
“It’s bad on the parks department,” he said. “They should have done a better job cleaning, and they should inform their staff that they shouldn’t be giving things to the people of the park, including lighters.”
The parks department is also investigating the incident.