Closing Bell: The Saga of Brooklyn's Tree Ripper
Last week Curbed noted a dramatic saga unfolding on the Brooklynian Boards, about a man who was tearing down tree branches around Bedford and Classon Avenues. The thread began in April, and while we figured it would have calmed down by now, it lives on. Apparently he ripped through Underhill Avenue this morning. Anyone have…
Last week Curbed noted a dramatic saga unfolding on the Brooklynian Boards, about a man who was tearing down tree branches around Bedford and Classon Avenues. The thread began in April, and while we figured it would have calmed down by now, it lives on. Apparently he ripped through Underhill Avenue this morning. Anyone have a problem like this?
Photos by caseopele via Brooklynian
For anyone who didn’t see it, today’s article in the NY times about Steve the tree ripper:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/nyregion/15trees.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
Many pictures of the damage are available here (and only represent a small fraction of the total damage done to trees in the area): http://www.phcfarm.com/welcome/2010/06/14/trees-vandalized-near-the-farm/
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=56979&start=315
lots of folks are apparently reporting the damage/crime to 311 attn the parks dept..
Join them…
Various city departments have advocated different approaches to this sticky situation. The result so far has been a bureaucratic paralysis in which neither the criminal justice nor the mental health system has been willing to act.
The New York City Department of Exorcism advocates a different approach: participating in this individual’s fantasy in order to convince him, on his own terms, that vulnerable trees are not, in fact, possessed.
You too can be a junior inspector with the New York City Department of Exorcism. Certificates of Exorcism are available at http://bit.ly/dhIvLO as a PDF that you can print and attach to endangered trees (better, any surrounding railings) after having performed the requisite incantations.
Clearly if you’ve been keeping up with this story it’s not an issue of simple pruning.Snapping is NOT necessary and this guy needs to be put in a situation where his activity is better supervised.
HIs mother gets a check from the state because of his problem so i don’t think she’d agree to have him put away.Some day his luck will run out….
EnglishKills,
You’re joking, right?
That’s not what’s going on here.
I used to do the same thing to neighborhood trees in Queens. Unfortunately, snapping is absolutely necessary when the city doesn’t keep up with needed trimming. The branches need to be snapped off or they’ll grow too low and block people’s paths. People may also run into them in the nighttime hours, causing eye or other injuries. Once in a while a tree may get sick, but it’s really a small price to pay to have a clear path and avoid eye injuries.
Fjorder, the guy probably had no idea the branch was already dangling and from his vantage point he simply saw a child ripping off branches and the parent standing watching doing nothing. Which is not such a far-fetched assumption these days. If I thought I saw that I’d be ticked off too.
No need to paint on a protectant, it can actually slow down the healing of the trees. Just get some very sharp secateurs/garden shears and trim off any loose/hanging bark around the wound. The tree will begin to heal itself. Broken branches should be pruned to a clean cut, but not too close to the main trunk (i.e.. not into the branch collar, as in this diagram: http://www.outdoorcircle.org/images/uploads/toc-how-to-prune.gif)
This guy is a menace, mentally ill or no, and needs to be institutionalized if his family can’t take care of him and prevent him from damaging trees that belong to everyone.