How Dumb Is That?

One of our Block Captains reported something unbelievable.  In the wake of Hurricane Irene, residents of 92nd Street, just off 89th Avenue, notice one of the large trees was leaning a bit — and closer inspection revealed that it was coming out of the ground.  Fair enough, we’ve seen a lot of that the past few days.  311 was called and an arborist from the Parks Department arrived to inspect the tree.

After a few minutes inspection he asked the local residents who had done the sidewalk.  The answer was “the city” — this was one of the blocks that had construction done due to water mains — many sidewalks in Woodhaven had been torn up and replaced.  It turns out the guys doing the sidewalk had cut the roots of the tree.

How Dumb Is That?

On top of that, the arborist pointed out that electrical wires had been run through limbs of the tree — here’s one angle of the tree (taken from Google’s street view):

It’s kinda hard to see, but it does look like the wires go in between the limbs — which means when this tree comes down it’s a guarantee that the wires are gonna come down.  How Dumb Is That?

Here’s another angle — we’ll try and get some better pictures later this morning —

As there has been many sidewalks torn up and replaced by the city in Woodhaven — and there are a ton of giant, old trees — the WRBA calls on the city to have the Parks Department inspect every tree on each sidewalk that was replaced in Woodhaven — and they should also check the street wiring, as well.

 

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Damage Report for Woodhaven – Hurricane Irene

Here is a final report for the weekend — a listing of the damage caused by Hurricane Irene.  This information was collected by our Block Captains.  If you have any damage on your block that you do not see on this list, it is because your block doesn’t have a Block Captain.

We have been in contact with our elected officials and they are working to resolve all the problems on this list.

Power Outages:

(1)  Luckily we only know of one power outage — live wires in the backyard of a house on Eldert Lane.  A number of houses are without power.

Downed Trees / Dangerous Conditions / Blocked Street – Unresolved as of 5:30 PM – Listed West to East

(2)  81st St between 91st Ave and Atlantic Ave. – A fallen tree is blocking the street.  Seems to have missed the parked cars.  Cordoned off by police tape.

(3)  84th St North of 91st Avenue – telephone pole ready to topple – Click Here For Picture – Street is blocked off and FDNY was on scene at 5:30 PM.

(4)  87th Street North of Atlantic – Downed tree blocking street – Click Here for Picture  – this was still blocking the street as of 5:30 PM

(5)  89th street between 88th and 89th Avenue – Downed Tree.  Click Here for Picture – this was still blocking the street as of 5:30 PM

(6)  92-06 Woodhaven Boulevard (near the bridge that crosses Atlantic) – Sidewalk blocked – dangerous condition as the branches force pedestians to walk out onto the Boulevard.  Click Here for Picture – this was still blocking the sidewalk as of 5:30 PM

(7)  87-20 94th Street – Large Tree leaning against house – dangerous condition.   Click Here for Picture – this was still blocking the sidewalk as of 5:30 PM

(8)  90th Street between 89th and 90th Avenue.  Downed Tree.  This was still blocking the street as of 5:30 PM

Downed Trees / Dangerous Conditions / Blocked Street – Seems OK for Now – Listed West to East

The following incidents of damage appear to be under control for now.  This does not mean they do not require further action.  It just means they do not require immediate action.

(9)  91-40 80th St between 91st Ave and Atlantic Ave – A large broken tree branch is hanging in the tree in front of 91-40.

(10)  88th Ave between 80th St and 85th St. – Click Here For Picture – it was small enough that residents were able to clear a path for vehicles.

(11)  86th st between 91st and Atlantic – A large tree fell and damaged 2 houses and looks like it took down some wires.  Sidewalk is cordoned off.

(12)  On Woodhaven Boulevard, a tree destroyed a garage and a vehicle.  The address of the house is actually 87-64 94th Street.  We saw emergency vehicles there and they secured the scene.

(13)  95th St between Jamaica Ave and 89th Avenue – Click Here For Picture – the residents cleared the street and chopped up the tree themselves.

(14)  83-25 98th Street – Downed tree blocking street, but there’s enough room for a car to get by.  311 Report Number –   # C1-1-678945715