Should the City's Million-Tree Plan Get Pruned?
Before we try to get thousands and thousands of new trees to grow in Brooklyn, we should take care of the ones we already have. That’s the gist of a discussion thread started by a poster on the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association Yahoo group who argues the city doesn’t trim existing trees in a timely…
Before we try to get thousands and thousands of new trees to grow in Brooklyn, we should take care of the ones we already have. That’s the gist of a discussion thread started by a poster on the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association Yahoo group who argues the city doesn’t trim existing trees in a timely enough fashion—a task it should be more on top of as the mayor’s ballyhooed plaNYC initiative to plant a million trees starts to take root. CB6 Chair Craig Hammerman weighs in on the discussion by saying there’s a really scary element to the million-tree plan:
It used to be that requests for tree plantings had to have the consent of the property owner or some responsible party at the planting location. Seems like the City doesn’t want to function that way anymore. Now anyone can request that a tree be planted anywhere, property owner be damned…Why force a tree on someone who may very well have a perfectly legitimate reason for not wanting one? As if the trees in this City didn’t have a hard enough time trying to survive a tough urban environment.
Think these are good points? Does the tree-planting initiative impinge on property owners’ rights, and should the city be doing more to take care of our existing trees?
11:58,
Correct. Sidewalk planted trees were rather unheard of in most of developing NYC in the 19th Century. In fact, SIDEWALKS could be rare too. Some built up residential areas did not get sidewalks until the 1930’s and some parts of NYC do not have sidewalks at all. Paving wasn’t universal (actually still is not 100%) for a long time (there is an unpaved named lane, more like a private access road, that supposedly was a Dutch-era cow lane).
Regarding backyard trees…I’m all for them. I have been sorry these last few years to see so many FG houses change hands and so many big trees getting cut down in yards while new decks and gas grills have gone in…
FG/TGL
10:50, I think you’re wrong about the liability issue as well. In 2003, they amended the law so that owners are responsible if anyone falls due to sidewalk issues or tree limbs and homeowners are expected to carry liability insurance for the sidewalk. The city will repair the sidewalk caused by damage from a tree, but the liability for any injuries is ultimately with the owner. I’m not so lucky, I’ve been waiting for 1 1/2 years for the city to repair the sidewalk due to tree roots.
11:53,
Call 311 and confirm. I was told that the city-paid sidewalk redo is for 1- and 2-family homes. Eligibility is not according to Class type. Remember, 1- and 2-family homes are dealt with differently in many ways than buildings with three or more units. Two-family home landlords are considered homeowners “renting out a part of their home” for example. Also, 1- and 2-family homes do not require a fire escape or sprinkler system retrofit…just some of the differences.
Again, call 311 and find out more…and get back this thread to confirm any info if you do this today.
Thanks,
FG/TGL
London Plane trees are awful.
Messy and half-dead looking even when in good health. Female ginkoes are another
must-miss tree.
There were few if any street trees in the nineteenth century. The folks who built the brownstones were not big on street trees.
10:50 again. I think you’re wrong. It has to be Class 1 and that’s 1-3-family. Our place is 3-family.
Yes, South Portland is lugubrious…but is has been all along. Plane trees can look lousy all the time. Not always the best except in ideal locations. Those trees have been dropping leaves starting in August year-after-year for a decade. Plane trees shed bark…that part is normal.
Yes, 10:50 AM, the City will pay for sidewalk replacement/repairs in front of 1- and 2-family homes. They come by and give your sidewalk issue a grade based on the severity of sidewalk heaving, tree roots, etc. The grade determines the timeframe for the sidewalk repair/replacement. With 3-family houses and up, you pay for the work.
FortGreener/TheGrammarLady
“Tree-phobic”?!? Give me a break.
Time for an science lesson, children. . . if a certain percentage of the trees die, that is a reason to plant MORE of them, not LESS.
This should be obvious to all but the smallest-minded (or most “tree-phobic”) of us!
Thousands of street trees die every year. Most do not live that long. So many of the new trees will into empty, in some cases long-empty tree pits. A lot of people do not like trees. I have an uncle who is tree-phobic, takes all kinds.
Parks should do more to prune street trees but neighborhood groups and block associations should also pitch in, after all it our windshields that the dead tree limbs will crash down on.
A few years ago, I witnessed contractors planting street trees in Clinton Hill. They dropped the trees in as quickly as possible and didn’t unwrap the root bundles of the trees, which, of course, died within a year. I hope these contractors do a better job now.