Residents Demand Answers After City Removes Astoria Tree Citing Safety Concerns
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A battle over a tree continued Tuesday, in a Queens neighborhood.
As CBS2 exclusively reported on Monday, city workers cut down a century-old tree on 34th Street, infuriating neighbors and even sparking an obscenity-laden shouting match..
"It's hard to look out the window and not see the tree there," Nicole Patterson told CBS2's Elise Finch.
Flowers and a note adorn the stump where the American elm used to stand.
While there were angry exchanges when the tree was cut down on Monday, a day later, there seemed to be only sadness.
"For me, it's like a person passed away," Yvonne Borg said.
"It was the beauty of 34th Street. They killed the tree. It was a crime," Anna Jutis said.
But some homeowners said the tree was clearly a hazard.
"It was too big. The roots lifted the sidewalk up so much that a couple of people even fell," Angelo Rosselli said.
New York City's Department of Parks and Recreation was in charge of maintaining the tree.
A spokesperson told CBS2 that arborists inspected the tree and found it structurally unsound.
"There were multiple points of severe decay in both the trunk and in the canopy," the city said, "Couple with the fact that the tree had a significant lean, the tree had to be removed in the interest of public safety."
"I think it was probably the best way to go," Robert Lorenzi said.
Some said they question the steps the Parks Department took before chopping it down.
"A lot of people were under the impression that they were simply pruning the tree," Peter Jutis said.
"There was not even a sign, so much as posted to the tree that they were planning to cut it down," Ryan Dineen said.
"I haven't seen any evidence that there was anything wrong with this tree and I would really appreciate seeing some paperwork and a write up saying that it was unsafe to the community," Patterson said.
Residents said even though small pieces of the tree are all that remain their fight isn't over. They're demanding the Parks Department turn over any risk reports done on the tree to their community board to make sure the tree they loved was cut down because it was truly a danger, and not just a nuisance.
An arborist told CBS2 that a series of tests are usually performed to determine what risk, if any, a tree poses in a neighborhood.
Documents from those tests are what the Astoria residents want to see.
