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Fed-Up Bronx Residents Say Tree Hazard Is Simply 'Getting Worse'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some Bronx residents say some trees in their neighborhood have created a real danger.  They claim falling limbs have damaged property and homeowners in the country club-area are frustrated.

Elyse Bulla and Vincent Sofi have lived on Stadium Avenue for nearly a decade. They love their neighborhood, but say the city-maintained trees on the grassy strip between the street and the sidewalk must go.

"Someone's going to get hurt one day, someone's going to walk by and get killed." Bulla told CBS 2's Chris Wragge.

The falling limbs have starting causing damage, according to Bulla and Sofi.

"The limbs, they keep falling. They're not branches, they're limbs. And they fall, one fell on my neighbors house, one fell on my car," said Sofi.

"Our cars, we have dents on the hoods, we have a dent on the roof, my husband had to have his fender, his hood replaced twice from these trees," said Bulla.

Just last week, Bulla was awakened in the middle of the night by a fallen tree limb.

"We were asleep. It was 12:30 at night, we're all sleeping. We heard a thump, I thought the kids fell out of bed. We checked out my front door. We couldn't get out of my front door, the tree limb was in front of my front door," she said.

The tree limb took out the electricity.

"Con Edison had to come because the fire department could not remove the tree with a live wire, so for three hours, we were not allowed back in my house," said Bulla.

The trees are also creating sidewalk hazards. Homeowners are responsible for sidewalks, so Sofi has received violations regarding the trip hazards.

"People do fall, and if you see my sidewalk the way it is, most of it's up and down because of the trees," Sofi said. "We have numerous calls into 311, we've been to politicians, we're knocking our heads against a wall and the problem is just getting worse."

CBS 2 reached out to the city Parks Department. A spokesperson said the trees were inspected on August 16th. One was found to be in poor condition and will be removed by September 15th. Another was found to be healthy.

Even so, Sofi says they are not.

"I can show you stress marks on them where they're going to break." he said. "It's a bad situation, very bad."

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