New York – The million trees program should be cut to 999,999.
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Or maybe the city could just move the tree it planted outside Marion D. Smith’s home on 11th St. in Park Slope on Friday.
The Brooklyn block has two empty tree pits, but of course the work crew went right to where the city had promised the 79-year-old widow it would not put a tree.
A tree had stood on this spot for decades but died six years ago, shortly after Smith lost her husband.
“It died right after he died,” she noted.
She kept after the city for five long years before the stump was finally removed. She is disabled and had expressed concern that she would have difficulty sweeping up the leaves if a new tree were planted there.
“Don’t worry, they won’t put another tree there,” a very nice city official assured her.
With that pledge, Smith had the pit paved over at her own expense. She was understandably surprised to see a small bulldozer with a pavement-busting attachment take up position there Friday morning.
“What are you doing?” Smith inquired from her front door.
“We’re putting in a tree,” the man in charge said.
“I didn’t ask for a tree,” Smith said. “I told them I didn’t want a tree there. Put it somewhere else.”
“This is going here,” the man said.
“I don’t want a tree there!” Smith exclaimed. “Who’s going to rake the leaves?”
A particularly good-hearted neighbor, Nancy Cardozo, approached and attempted to intervene.
“She doesn’t want a tree,” Cardozo noted.
“Sorry, I have the contract and I have a big payroll,” the man replied. “I have to put the tree there.”
The man’s tone remained remarkably amiable, even though Cardozo positioned herself in a way that might impede the work.
“You can have the tree moved later,” he offered.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense just to put it where we want it?” Cardozo inquired.
“No, this is what I have to do,” he said.
Cardozo dialed 311 from her cell phone. An operator informed her the city owns the sidewalk and has the right to put a tree there.
“Who’s responsible if somebody slips on the leaves?” Cardozo inquired.
“The homeowner,” the operator replied.
The operator then connected Cardozo to somebody in the Parks Department who did not answer. Cardozo left a message that would not get a reply.
Meanwhile, the man in charge was on his own cell phone to the Parks Department forestry office. He handed his phone to Cardozo.
“The tree’s going in,” an instantly nasty forestry guy told Cardozo. “There’s nothing she can do about it.”
Cardozo inquired if perhaps the work could be suspended until Smith spoke to the city.
“Do you want me to send the police and have you arrested?” the forestry guy responded.
“No, thank you, but I would like you to give me your name,” Cardozo said.
“I need you to move,” the forestry guy said.
“I need you to tell me your name,” Cardozo insisted.
“You’ll find out my name soon enough,” the forestry guy said.
Smith called to Cardozo from her front door, asking what was happening.
“They’re sending the police,” Cardozo replied.
“Nancy, I don’t want you to get arrested for a tree,” Smith declared.
Cardozo stepped back from what a passerby might have taken to be the opposite of tree hugging. She is in truth a big supporter of the Million Trees program. And she had to admire the work crew’s speed and precision in breaking up the pavement and planting the tree.
“One in a million – that’s what this tree is, one small step toward a green New York,” the tag also said.
The tag reported that this particular tree was a ginkgo. A female ginkgo means cleaning up fallen fruit whose smell has been variously compared to rancid butter, vomit and dog droppings.
“We’re hoping it’s not a female,” Cardozo said.
Of course they want trees all over then they can ticket you again & again!!
That’s why we call him Bloomy the dictator.
Another liability to consider is when the roots of the tree push up the sidewalk and creates a tripping hazard. The homeowner is liable again. Hmm… I wonder if pouring bleach into the soil around the tree to poison it is illegal? If so, she shouldn’t do it…
P.S. I’ve smelled guinko trees – they smell like the third option given above. 😛
The city needs more trees. If we allowed any one individual to object to every tree, we would never get anything done and the city would look like a desert. The needs of the community for more trees, not the preferences of one individual, must take priority.
If I want a green surrounding I will move to the suburbs
I am a supporter of trees, but they shouldn’t be pushed down people’s throats. Such heavy-handedness can easily backfire.
hey we all wany trees in front of our houses, but this lady has a point! the city told her no tree shall be planted in front of her house, a word is a word! i guess she can fight city hall
How can they still be so stupid as to plant a ginkotree- I have one in front of my house and it stinks and makes a huge mess- far worse than leaves- and, halachically and legally I can’t knock it down.
we just fixed our sidewalk 4&1/2 yrs ago & it is all broken up because of a very ugly tree. i do like trees but can’t afford to repair the sidewalk every 5 yrs!
You can’t prune the tree in front of your house, it’s the City’s property. If the sidewalk cracks from the roots, you are responsible to repair it. If someone falls on those same roots, homeowner is responsible. If the roots eat into your sewer pipes, you’re down $10-15,000. Isn’t this insane????
Who needs trees?! they may add color but you pay a heavy price with it. whether it’s fall season or allergy season or just as mentioned above plus squirrels eating their way in the center of the bark thus can cause heavy damage. i would definitely warn authorities that if used gets placed against my wishes it’s not my baby to look after.
While I know what the people with the female ginkgo trees are complaining about, for the record, the seeds of those fruits are used in Chinese cooking and I have seen Chinese people gathering them in the city. A number of years ago I saw Chinese spread a blanket under such tree(s) in fall in the BP area and they then shook the tree, and the fruits fell on the blanket and they gathered them. I think it was on a Shabbos. Perhaps it could be arranged for Chinese people to come in the fall and collect the fruits now as above as well. For the record, the situation with the fruit smell (I believe they only smell when they are crushed actually, so maybe just/mostly when they fall on concrete and/or people step on them), is not year-round, just for a period of the fall basically.
Also, there are health food products made from ginkgo, sold in health food stores.
תקון עולם or “Tikun Olam” is an integral part of yiddeshe belief (assuming you are a jewish). The phrase has its origins in classical rabbinic literature and in the Lurianic kabbalah, a major element of Jewish mysticism originating with the work of the 16th-century kabbalist and gadol hatorah Ha’rav Yitchak Luria, Z’tl, who spoke affirmatively of the obligation of yiddin to improve upon the great gifts of b’rias ha’olam that hashem has provided us. Planting trees in a city, is a big mitzvah, but an am’haroetz such as yourself (thats yiddish for someone who is not wise) would not be expected to know that.
The term “mipnei tikkun ha-olam” (perhaps best translated in this context as “in the interest of public policy”) is used in the Mishnah (the body of classical rabbinic teachings codified circa 200 C.E.). There, it refers to social policy legislation providing extra protection to those potentially at a disadvantage–governing, for example, just conditions for the writing of divorce decrees and for the freeing of slaves.
Let me guess. All that are against it are homeowners. Those who like the trees planted, don’t own a home in NYC.
Children, stop insulting each other. The main point here is that she is elderly and lives alone. How is she supposed to take care of the leaves, etc. If the city wants to plant trees, they should have to take care of them. My allergies are going beserk!
I have a feeling that Bloomberg and his buddy Millhouse would be very comfortable in brown shirts
The bottom line is that the lady needs to find a way to get the tree dead without the city knowing she did it. She should wait a little until the tree grows to an undesirable number of leaves and kill it. Anyone has any method on how to go about doing it?