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September 16, 2008

What happened to the footprint trees? Parks Department says replacements due only after construction

Atlantic Yards Report

Norman Oder tries to figure out why Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is cutting down the City's trees bordering the project footprint:

Some 86 trees have been disappearing around the Atlantic Yards footprint over the past several months as preconstruction demolition and utility work has continued, prompting some community alarm, given that the tree removal was apparently not formally announced and, apparently unanticipated in the environmental review, there are still people living and working in the Atlantic Yards footprint.
...
[T]he dismay is such that City Council Member Letitia James said yesterday that there should be "a moratorium on the removal of any more trees, in and around the foot print." [Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods Secretary Jim] Vogel suggested that the tree removals are a "p.r. stunt for the groundbreaking," pointing out that the announced project groundbreaking in November can only be symbolic.

"If the project goes through, take the trees down as you need them," he said, suggesting that the tree removals reinforce claims of blight.

Tree removal has not been mentioned in the Construction Updates issued by the Empire State Development Corporation. In fact, when I queried the ESDC and was told to contact developer Forest City Ratner, which did not respond to an e-mail query. (Shouldn't this information have been at the fingertips of the ESDC Ombudsman and also the Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office?)

Then I contacted the New York City Parks Department; spokesman Phil Abramson told me, "A removal permit for 86 trees was issued in March 2008. There was no way to keep the trees in place and build what they want to build there, and transplanting them would have been risky as far as survival.

I asked for a copy of the permit; I was told to submit a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request.

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Posted by lumi at September 16, 2008 5:36 AM