Re John Hancock's post: I also have a Natural Gas Hot Water Boiler system, in a 3-story Brownstone. Over the years, we have tried a few different folks to do that job, with varied results. When we first bought the house, we used Vigilante. They are very expensive, but they guarantee their work. Then we took out a contract with Brooklyn Union for $140/year (now National Grid)- they seemed to have done a sufficient job, but when the guy came back to do it the next year, all he did was turn on the system, dust around the top of the boiler a bit, & sit in his van for a long time. So now we use a local heating & plumbing guy - Bautista from A&B Mechanical Heating - it's hard to get him to come on time, but he does good work at a reasonable price, and he's honest and won't overcharge you.

Posted by: sedonie at September 30, 2009 12:54 PM in response to Time to Think About Your Boiler Again

Thank you, thank you, to all of you fellow Brownstoners who posted on this subject. Everyone seems to say the same thing: DON'T cut down your tree!
Since we are a bit 'green' to the home-owner thing, I guess we were just feeling insecure about it from every angle. We are obviously just too paranoid, but just need to be sure to maintain it properly. Our neighbors will just have to get over it, and appreciate our tree for the beauty and protection that it provides...

Posted by: sedonie at August 4, 2008 12:47 PM in response to Should we cut down our big tree?

We have a large oak in the front of our house, and had it trimmed (not cut down) by Urban Arborists recently. Are you SURE that you want to cut it down, not just trim it? At any rate, we got estimates/diagnosis from both Urban Arborists & Prospect Tree. Both came highly recommended by fellow gardeners and the city. We went with Urban Arborists, mostly because we felt their approach in the estimate was a bit more professional, and they charged a bit less. Since our oak is so huge and had proabably not been trimmed for many years, the cost was high...725. Prospect Tree wanted 800.

Posted by: sedonie at August 4, 2008 12:32 PM in response to Tree removal

I would suggest that you spend the money to intall a new hatch. We own a Brownstone in Bed Stuy, and we had a very old hatch with a very unsecure lock like you have pictured. When we fixed our roof, we had a proper hatch installed with hydrolic lift and a interior latch with holes for a pad lock. There is no excuse for being cheap on this.

Posted by: sedonie at August 2, 2008 7:54 PM in response to roof hatch security?

I'm with kensington gal. A 50 ft tree is completely oversized for a 20 ft wide lot. Assuming someone is going to pave over the yard or build an extension after they cut down the tree is what's really idiotic. Maybe the OP wants some sun to grow some vegetables. If you want shade, plant your own tree, buy an umbrella, or go inside.

Posted by: ownhs at August 5, 2008 11:30 AM in response to Tree removal

Kgal, note that OP has given NO reasons for his decision. Is it diseased? Ratty? Towards the end of its life? Is he replacing it? Why not reveal the reason so us tree-lovers don't dump on him? Building an extension is my guess, and I must admit I'm not too sympathetic with that.

ownhs, we don't even know the girth of the tree. Many evergreens are skinny and tall, and what's wrong with them in a typical bs backyard?

While I don't second calling people names, OP is clearly not straining for understanding of his viewpoint.

I look forward to having OP keeping us posted on the kill details.

Posted by: cmu at August 5, 2008 2:34 PM in response to Tree removal

OP: It is not often that I am inspired to quote song lyrics, but for you, this exception (from Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi):
"…They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum. 
And they charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em. 
Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. …"

For better or worse, as owner you control your backyard. By the same token, for better or worse, you can't control the responses to your post. You only wanted comments that would help ballpark your eradication? Too bad. I wonder if you realize that most commenters to your post--some of them maybe even your across-the-fence neighbors--are replying with far more restraint than you will apply to your tree. What distinguishes you from previous renovators who thought their homes would be modernized and beautified once all remnants of architectural detail were removed? Nothing you've written indicates your tree is diseased or damaged. On the contrary, you wrote it blocks too much light, and takes up too much space. No matter what size your tree, it is hard to imagine it's trunk occupying much more than 9 square feet. What essential piece of furniture fits in that space that doesn't fit elsewhere? A table? A lawn chair? Some other manufactured design wonder that reached maturity in 50 hours or 50 days, and will be discarded in how many years?

I don't support name-calling, nor do I support the suggestion that a class at NYBG qualifies a poster to dismiss the wisdom of generations that came before. Not even 60 years ago, there were still farms in Brooklyn. Approx. 50 years ago, empty lots dotted the landscape of my Brooklyn childhood, also filled with Monarch butterflies, nighttime fireflies, and crayfish in the BBG's streams. The immigrants of earlier generations were hardly ignorant gardeners. That's why the backyards of Brooklyn are filled with fruit trees and grape arbors. Vegetable gardens and victory gardens sustained families from these same backyards and rooftops, long before green roofs and green walls became a necessary remedy to the destruction of green space. With no details on which to base your opinion, KG, to suggest that buzz-cutting an apparently healthy tree is a defensible antidote to the "ignorance" of the people who planted and cared for it, is an argument which is beyond the beyond.

Posted by: vinca at August 5, 2008 6:10 PM in response to Tree removal

People, dont get cheap when it comes to the security of your home. Spend about 600 for a new steel scuttle roof hatch and have it installed by a qualified contractor. Make sure its approved for NYC use and by the FDNY. I purchased mine from a roofing supplier and had it installed.

Posted by: Bklyn1 at August 6, 2008 8:51 AM in response to roof hatch security?

In case anyone back checks this post - removal of the tree is approx 1100. Both Urban arborist and propest trees very similar.

Posted by: 10thStreetReno at August 8, 2008 1:17 PM in response to Tree removal