Staten Island Girl, 10, Loses Fingers as Parks Worker Faces Charges Over Fireworks

A 10-year-old Staten Island girl lost fingers and may have lost sight in one eye after an M-80 firework exploded inside a park bathroom stall Tuesday evening, and police have arrested the on-duty city parks employee accused of handing her the lighter that set it off. The girl, identified by her family as Taylor, was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital North after the 6:45 p.m. blast at General Douglas MacArthur Park in Midland Beach.

Police say 24-year-old Joshua Moe, a Parks Department employee working that evening, allegedly gave Taylor a lighter after adults elsewhere in the park had refused her request for one, according to NBC New York. A family friend told the outlet that Taylor had found an unlit M-80 on a baseball field before the device detonated in the restroom, according to witnesses. Emergency responders applied a tourniquet to her hand at the scene before she was transported for treatment, per UOL.

Tyesha Thomas, identified as a family member, told NBC New York that Taylor will not be the same after the accident and said she may have lost sight in one eye. Thomas also said Taylor faces growing up deformed with a disability because adults failed her. As of Wednesday afternoon, Taylor remained hospitalized, according to Thomas.

Arrest Came Within 30 Minutes

NYPD officers arrested Moe roughly 30 minutes after emergency callers reported the explosion, per UOL's timeline of the incident. He has been charged with child endangerment and reckless endangerment, according to the NBC New York report. Under New York law, both endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree reckless endangerment are Class A misdemeanors, carrying maximum penalties of up to one year in jail, three years of probation, and a $1,000 fine, according to the New York State Senate. Those charges reflect a theory of criminal recklessness rather than an allegation that Moe intended to hurt the child.

The Parks Department has referred questions about the arrest to the NYPD and has not responded to a request for comment, per NBC New York's reporting. The agency's disciplinary unit is investigating the incident separately, the outlet reported.

An Illegal Device, Not a Backyard Sparkler

The device involved was not a typical banned consumer firework like a sparkler, firecracker, or bottle rocket — all of which are already prohibited in every park across New York City's five boroughs, per NBC New York. M-80s have been banned nationwide for consumer sale since 1966 under the federal Child Protection Act, because their flash powder content far exceeds the 50-milligram limit the Consumer Product Safety Commission sets for legal consumer fireworks, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Originally manufactured for military signaling, the devices carry enough explosive material to cause severe injuries.

Thomas also told NBC New York that men's baseball teams allegedly lit fireworks on the same field the night before the accident. Having, using, or lighting consumer fireworks in a city park can result in tickets, fines up to $1,000, or criminal charges, the outlet noted. Separately, possession or use of unauthorized fireworks citywide can carry criminal penalties of up to six months in prison and fines up to $10,000 under FDNY codes, in addition to Parks Department summonses, according to the Riverdale Press.

A Recurring Seasonal Danger

Fireworks injuries are not new to New York City's summers. Around the July Fourth holiday in 2025, city emergency departments treated an estimated 80 fireworks-related injuries, according to syndromic surveillance data from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2024, the department recorded 45 such injuries — up from an annual average of 33 between 2017 and 2023 — with males accounting for 73% of cases and people aged 15 to 24 representing a third of victims.

Nationwide, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded an estimated 13,000 emergency department-treated fireworks injuries and 15 deaths in 2025, with hands and fingers the most frequently injured body parts, making up 35% of all cases. That national pattern of severe hand trauma mirrors what happened to Taylor in Midland Beach.

Entry-Level Hire Raises Oversight Questions

Moe started working for NYC Parks in May 2026 as a City Seasonal Aide through the Parks Opportunity Program, a six-month transitional employment initiative run with the Human Resources Administration that pays $19.14 an hour and offers job coaching to unemployed New Yorkers, according to the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Participants in the program are generally expected to carry out cleaning and maintenance work under direct supervision, raising questions about how an entry-level aide came to be involved in an incident with an illegal explosive on his watch.

General Douglas MacArthur Park sits directly adjacent to NYCHA's Berry Homes public housing complex and includes artificial turf athletic fields, basketball courts, a playground, and a mini-pool, making it a primary recreational space for local families and youth sports leagues, according to the NYC Department of City Planning. Taylor lost some fingers and was burned in the explosion that took place there, according to NBC New York's reporting, in a park where local youth gather to play throughout the summer.