The City Parks Foundation on Monday began planting the first of 70 trees meant to replace those downed by Sandy. Trees are also being planted in Woodside. The Sunnyside Post reports;
“What better way to celebrate Earth Day than planting a tree,” said councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, whose office has kept track of where the downed trees were located.
The Sunnyside/Woodside street that was most devastated by the hurricane was 48th Street between Skillman and 39th Ave. “It lost more trees than any other block,” Van Bramer said. However, “there were pockets of downed trees in all areas of Sunnyside and Woodside.”
Hopefully these new trees will be maintained and pruned, as some have been demanding, so their limbs don’t come crashing down during the next big storm.
Earlier in the year we reported on where you could drop your food scraps for composting. Most of that compost went to improving city property and community gardens and organizations. But unless you built your own bin, if you’ve wanted to get in on that composting action, you were out of luck. But not now. BIG!NYC points out that the Department of Sanitation will give you free bags of city compost and mulch as long as you use them to beautify public trees lining the street. Those oases of bark and dirt along the sidewalks easily suffer from rainwater runoff, uncurbed dogs, and sheer neglect. With a load of compost and mulch, a weekend afternoon, and a couple of friends, you can finally fix up that shabby patch of dirt outside your home — for free!
The NY Daily News reports that homeowners are dismayed at the violations they’re getting from the City in relation to the trees – some of them quite large – that fell on their houses and property as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Queens civic leaders and homeowners are highly annoyed by this turn of events, which they deem unfair. They want the violations removed; it’s important to note that these violations do not carry financial penalties on the property owner.
It’s great to read about the Rockaways getting a break in this post-Sandy world, no matter how small or large it is. This new temporary ferry service is a great break for the people there, since it is impossible to get through Jamaica Bay by train these days because of the damage to the tracks at Broad Channel. The ferry essentially goes between the Rockaways and Manhattan and service started this morning. Here are the details:
Ferries will depart from Beach 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive (GMAP), where the Economic Development Corporation has been working to install a temporary landing, and stop at Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan with free transfers between Pier 11 and East 34th Street in Midtown. The service will start at 5:45 AM in the Rockaways with ferries departing for Manhattan regularly until 9:20 AM, with regular service resuming during the evening rush. One-way fares will be $2.
Great ramen in Astoria
The Times Ledger has published a review of HinoMaru Ramen, a relatively new Japanese restaurant on Ditmars Blvd in Astoria. It’s different from a lot of Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood, which are mostly sushi joints (apart from Linn, which makes amazing sushi and other Japanese food). The reviewer especially praises the pork gyoza and variety of ramen dishes available. We’ll add that we are fond of their Niku Man, a sort of sandwich made with pork belly.
The trees in Queens also suffered during recent storms
We’ve learned that of all the boroughs, Queens lost the most trees during Hurricane Sandy and the following nor’easter. Current records indicate 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.” Even places that didn’t get flooded had trees down. Forest Park took a big hit and there are a number of trees and branches that fell in Astoria Park. This was not a good time for the trees.
Louis Armstrong music history factoid, right here
According to the Louis Armstrong House, today marks a special anniversary. From their twitter feed: “First Louis Armstrong Hot 5 session, recorded today in 1925! Here’s the first record released, “Gut Bucket Blues.”
MLS is confident Queens will welcome the new soccer stadium
Major League Soccer commissioned a survey and discovered through the results that 71% of the 650 Queens registered voters surveyed approve of the stadium. People are generally enthused about professional soccer coming to the borough and are also excited about the new jobs the stadium and franchise will create.
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 Sunnyside Gardens area of Sunnyside is known for the large, beautiful trees that line its streets. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy found many of these trees last night and they were ripped out at the roots, wreaking havoc on cars, sidewalks, and yards. Most homeowners got lucky, though, and did not see any damage from the fallen trunks and branches.
On 47th Street, two huge trees and a lamppost lay across the road.
Between 47th and 48th Streets, a tree went down in someone’s backyard, and yanked the square edge of the yard up with it. (more…)
This morning we took a walk around the Ditmars section of Astoria and saw some fair damage – trees down and dangerous wires. Lots and lots of leaves. And New Yorkers not letting anything stop them from being outside.
Here are some photos.
This pole damage caused a lot of problems to the neighborhood. ConEd was out there this morning. (more…)
Good news for those who are looking to plant a tree on their property. According to Build It Green!NYC, they along with the Western Queens Compost Initiative, have partnered with the New York Restoration Project’s MillionTreesNYC program to give away 100 trees to Queens residents this fall. (more…)
Apple season is upon us! The first crispy bites of autumn have already hit the Greenmarkets, and among them is the Newtown Pippin, an heirloom variety native to Queens. (Red Jacket Orchards, among other Greenmarket vendors, grow them.)
Image source: newtownpippin.org
The Newtown Pippin was first cultivated almost 300 years ago on the once-fecund banks of the Newtown Creek. (more…)
