Tag Archives: downed trees

Residents grieve for downed trees

Tree stumps line the south end of the playground on Friday. (Photos by Sabina Mollot)

SPS says removals were for resident safety

By Sabina Mollot

Though it did come with warning, a number of Stuyvesant Town residents were nonetheless unprepared for the moment when trees that were nearly as old and as tall as nearby buildings began getting sawed down and carted away.

The old oaks’ removal was explained by management in an email on Friday (and in a prior email blast) as being necessary due to disease and decay. Additionally, StuyTown Property Services CEO Rick Hayduk added in the Friday email to tenants, they’d be replaced in June by Princeton elms and the remains of the oaks would be mulched. Still, for some residents whose windows overlook Playground 1, the removal of the 18 mature trees around it hit home as hard as the loss of an old friend.

“As I speak I hear a chainsaw cutting down a 70-year-old tree,” Stuart Strong, a resident of 330 First Avenue told Town & Village on Friday. Strong, who was horrified, added, “They’re sturdy as anything. We’re looking at stumps that used to be oak trees. I don’t see any decay. They provide environment and enjoyment.”

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Local resident cries foul as tree is axed on East 20th street

A tree near 440 East 20th Street was cut down.

A tree near 440 East 20th Street was cut down.

By Sabina Mollot
Last Tuesday afternoon, a Stuyvesant Town resident walking past 440 and 430 East 20th Street said she noticed that a very tall, mature tree was in the midst of being cut down.
The resident, who asked that her name not be published, told Town & Village she’d asked a nearby Public Safety officer what was going on and was initially told that the tree was just being trimmed for safety reasons.
She was also told it had to do with the tree being in the way of a ramp for disabled residents that was going to
be built alongside the building.
The building already has a ramp but according to the officer, that one wasn’t up to code.

The stump of the tree was later removed as well.

The stump of the tree was later removed as well.

The resident added that after she stuck around a while, it became clear that the tree was actually being cut down, so she headed over to the new management office to make a complaint about what seemed like unnecessary arborcide as well as the lack of notice that a tree would be coming down.
That’s when she said she was told by a property manager that the tree was actually diseased.
She didn’t get a response as to the lack of notice though other than management tends to get overwhelmed due to all the work going on at the property at any given time.
After returning later in the day to the spot where the tree had been, the stump that had been there briefly after it was chopped was also gone.
A spokesperson for CWCapital did not respond to a request for comment on the tree.

Superstorm Sandy in Pictures

Here are more pictures taken by T&V and area residents during last month’s storm and of its aftermath. Click the pictures to enter the gallery.

NYPD police officer stationed at East 13th Street and Avenue C on the Wednesday after the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Flood water was pumped out of parking garages in Peter Cooper Village on Wednesday evening following the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Sand bags left over from the storm put in place to protect Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village from flooding. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
A man was going through property he had left in his car that was parked on Avenue C during the storm on Wednesday evening. He said that his car had been underwater during the flooding and the city was coming to tow it in the next couple of days. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Avenue C and 14th Street after the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Solar One’s storage shed was destroyed in the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Cars parked on East 23rd Street and Avenue C got displaced by flooding from the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Cars parked on East 23rd Street and Avenue C got displaced by flooding from the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Water was being drained from the basement of buildings in Peter Cooper Village on Wednesday evening following the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Debris floated in the East River on the Wednesday after the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
A deli on First Avenue sustained damage to its sign. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Gristedes on First Avenue taped up their windows in preparation for the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Halloween revelers didn’t let the storm dampen their holiday spirit as children in costumes roamed the city, like these who were spotted outside Tompkins Square Park on Halloween, the Wednesday after the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Strewn leaves had been tidied up at the north end of Peter Cooper Village on Wednesday after the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Peter Cooper Village sustained heavy damage at the corner of East 23rd and Avenue C, with a number of toppled trees and stray branches. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
A tree on East 23rd Street at Avenue C was pulled up by its roots. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Debris from fallen trees was collected in Peter Cooper Village on the Wednesday following the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Fallen trees in PCV were removed from their stumps by the Wednesday after the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Trees pulled up by their roots in Peter Cooper Village. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Trees pulled up by their roots in Peter Cooper Village. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Trees pulled up by their roots in Peter Cooper Village. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Petite Abeille on First Avenue was one of the few businesses to reopen after the storm, still unable to serve food and only lit by candles on the Wednesday right after Sandy hit. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
A sign outside a garage on Avenue C chastises Quik Park for saying they won’t be liable for flood damage. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
A sign posted outside Tompkins Square Park notifies residents that parks were not open due to the storm. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Damage to trees could be seen from the outside of Tompkins Square Park. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Damage to trees could be seen from the outside of Tompkins Square Park. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Damage to trees could be seen from the outside of Tompkins Square Park. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Vamos was one of the few businesses to reopen on First Avenue soon after the storm before electricity was restored to the area. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
A fallen branch outside a parking lot on East 12th Street. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Con Edison workers and police officers at the recently flooded East 14th and Avenue C intersection. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Damaged car on Avenue C between East 13th and 14th Streets. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Cars on Avenue C. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Cars ended up parked sideways and in some cases on the sidewalk after floating in flood water on Avenue C. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Cars ended up parked sideways and in some cases on the sidewalk after floating in flood water on Avenue C. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Cars ended up parked sideways and in some cases on the sidewalk after floating in flood water on Avenue C. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel.)
Another one of the tree casualties in Stuyvesant Town. (Photo by Ingrid Devita.)
One of the many tree casualties in Stuyvesant Town. (Photo by Marilyn Pascarelli.)
Council Member Dan Garodnick at the Stuy Town Community Center, which served as a base camp for door-knocking volunteers.
Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village benefited from generous neighbors and local businesses, including Riverpark, Setai Fifth Avenue and Rocco DiSpirito, pictured with Council Member Dan Garodnick. (Photo by David Kimball-Stanley.)
As part of an effort to check on all ST/PCV residents and follow up, where needed, with food or medicine, National Guardsmen, pictured with Council Member Garodnick, demonstrate how to prepare packaged meals that were delivered last Thursday.
Sandy: 1, Gulf gas station: 0 (Photo by Dan Garodnick.)
One of the generators at Beth Israel Medical Center, which kept the place in business after the blackout. (Photo by Harris Nagler.)
The cleanup effort underway at Gramercy Park. (Photo by Sean Brady.)
Campos Plaza resident Jose Loubriel with the radio that kept him company during the blackout. (Photo by Sabina Mollot.)
Percy’s Tavern is accepting donations for victims of the storm. (Photo by Tom Issing.)
The cleanup process begins around Stuyvesant Town. (Photo by Ingrid Devita.)
Uprooted tree in Peter Cooper Village (Photo by Dan Garodnick.)
The Chrysler Building is a beacon of light as seen from an Oval building. (Photo by Arlynne Miller.)
Car damaged by debris from the storm in Stuyvesant Town. (Photo by Ingrid Devita)
Tree pulled up by its roots in the storm (Photo by Mark Thompson)
Flooding from the East River to under the FDR Drive and beyond (Photographer unknown)
The Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison joins with Calvary-St. George’s Church Senior Clergyman Rev. Jacob Smith and Director of Operations Mark Tenniswood to send critical supplies to areas devastated by the storm. (Photo courtesy of the Gramercy Park Block Association.)
Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison working with local first responders at Calvary-St. George’s Church. (Photo courtesy of the Gramercy Park Block Association.)
Harrison with Calvary St-George’s Rev. Jacob Smith and Mark Tenniswood. (Photo courtesy of the Gramercy Park Block Association.)
Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison working with local first responders at Calvary-St. George’s Church. (Photo courtesy of the Gramercy Park Block Association.)
Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison working with local first responders at Calvary-St. George’s Church. (Photo courtesy of the Gramercy Park Block Association.)
Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison working with local first responders at Calvary-St. George’s Church. (Photo courtesy of the Gramercy Park Block Association.)
Flooding at 14th Street and Avenue C. (Photographer unknown.)
East 14th Street between Avenues B and C as it appeared during the height of the storm. (Photographer unknown.)