Politics & Government

Avella Says City Should Have Removed Trees That Were Knocked Down by Irene

Residents have long been calling for old trees in northeast Queens to be taken down, senator says.

State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, said residents in his northeast Queens district have been calling on the city for years to remove many of the old trees that came crashing down in their neighborhoods as Hurricane Irene paid a visit to the five boroughs.

Avella said trees have fallen onto homes, blocked streets and knocked down power lines in the communities he represents, including Douglaston, Little Neck and Bayside.

“The severity of the damage is serious and requires immediate attention,” the senator said. “It is extremely unfortunate that many of the downed trees that have either fallen on homes or are blocking streets are the same trees that constituents have been calling on the city to remove for years.”

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Avella said the city should focus more attention on maintaining its existing trees “before planting a million more,” referring to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, a city sustainability plan that includes the planting of trees across the city.

“In fact, the very tree that I held a press conference under in July of this year was blown onto the home of the resident who had been pleading with the city to remove it,” Avella said. “Now, the homeowner has to deal with damage to his property and because the tree tore through his power lines, he will have to make due without power.”

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The senator said that residents affected by the storm can contact his office, located at 38-50 Bell Blvd. in Bayside, at 718-357-3094 for assistance.

During a phone conference yesterday, Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, said that hundreds of trees were still being removed from northeast Queens and that Con Edison was working to restore power to as many as 2,000 Queens residents.

The councilman said that Douglaston was the hardest hit of all of the communities in his district.

This morning, Con Edison announced that its workers had turned the electricity back on for an estimated 80 percent of city residents who were left in the dark during last weekend’s storm.


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