City To Remove Thousands Of Dangerous Trees Damaged By Hurricane Sandy

The NYC Parks Department is gearing up to remove a huge amount of Brooklyn trees damaged by Hurricane Sandy, says the Brooklyn Daily.

Parks Department spokeswoman Megan Lalor tells the publication about 2,000 trees are currently marked for removal, and an additional 4,500 trees with low leaf coverage are being eyed for the next round.

Parks is also monitoring the salty soil left in Sandy’s wake, says Lalor, and is replenishing it with compost and gypsum in an attempt to restore the health of salvageable trees.

Jermaine Shell, who was hit by a falling branch on July 27 while walking his dogs in Prospect Park, got some neighbors riled up by filing a $20 million lawsuit against the city earlier this month–but he’s not the only recent victim of New York’s neglected trees.

On July 6, Coney Island resident Martin Novitsky suffered a concussion after being hit by a branch on the boardwalk–and according to his doctor, miraculously escaped death. Not as lucky, though, was Yingyi Li-Dikov, a 30-year-old pregnant woman, who was killed by an oak tree August 5 while sitting on a bench in a Queens park.

Neighbors reached out to the Daily News recently about some nerve-wracking tree incidents in Midwood, too–including a 33-foot branch falling, totaling a car, and still not being removed for weeks–pleading with the city to do something before they have a tragedy of their own. Lalor said the trees in question would be inspected and serviced within 30 days.

Until Parks can better assess the condition of those aforementioned 4,500 trees later this fall, residents are encouraged to flush out salt by watering trees regularly. And of course, if you see a suspicious tree in the area, call 311 or fill out a form online.