Sandy-tree-on-house-astoria-queens-nyc

A toppled tree in Astoria-Ditmars the day after Hurricane Sandy came through NYC

The NY Daily News reports on the high number of trees that fell in Queens during both Hurricane Sandy and the nor’easter that followed right behind it – Queens has the most downed trees of any of the boroughs as a result of these storms. Records show that “About half of the 20,000-plus calls to the city’s 311 line for downed trees and branches as well as hanging limbs came from Queens after the super-storm. And roughly 2,000 of the 3,000 requests received after the nor’easter were also traced to Queens.” Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said that the number of downed trees – oaks, maples, London planes, and more – is “the worst I have ever seen.”

The toppling of these trees caused real problems – they brought down power lines, creating outages during cold weather; they damaged cars, homes, and other buildings, as well as ripped up sidewalks; they trapped people inside their homes; and for some, caused heartache to see such magnificent trees brought down by mother nature.

The city’s Parks Department Forestry crews have been working like crazy to clear trees from streets and homes, with priority given to those trees blocking roadways. Of the 10,000+ calls made about fallen trees after Hurricane Sandy, these crews have cleared 2,943 of them since Friday. One thing that does delay working on a particular tree is if there are live wires; in cases like this, ConEd has to get in there first to remove any hazards of an electrical sort. Those involved believe it will take months to get to all the trees and branches that were victims of these two intense storms.

If you are still dealing with downed trees that you think need priority, Commissioner Lewandowski encourages you to to continue to call 311 or report it/them online at nyc.gov. And especially for those who took the Citizen Pruner course, Trees New York encourages you to keep an eye out and call 311 if you see any branches or trees that you believe should get attention.

If a street tree has gone down in your neighborhood and you would like to plant a new one next Spring, perhaps consider getting in touch with MillionTreesNYC (a PlaNYC initiative), which facilitates the planting of free street trees in NYC. You can apply here for a tree. As we mentioned above, the Parks Forestry crews are busy with the removal of downed trees since the storm, not to mention that winter is coming and that’s not prime planting season, but Spring would be a reasonable time to request a tree.

Queens tops the city in downed tree woes after Superstorm Sandy [NYDN]
Request a Street Tree application [MillionTreesNYC]


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