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ilovemytrees

Neglected, Rotting Trees Turn Deadly

ilovemytrees
11 years ago

The sharp and sudden crack! broke the summer calm.

Alexis Handwerker had been sitting on a bench beneath a towering elm in Stuyvesant Square Park in Manhattan now she was pinned to the ground, bleeding, disoriented and smothered by leaves. One arm was rammed back unnaturally, broken. Panicked parkgoers struggled to free her from a huge tree limb that had plummeted 30 feet.

'I don't want to die,' she screamed. 'I don't want to die.'

*More at the NYT link.

Here is a link that might be useful: NYT article

Comments (6)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    11 years ago

    well.. at least it didnt kill her in her sleep ...

    ken

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    11 years ago

    Good read. Thank you.

    People should have to go through them four pages before planting trees over their homes.

    My next train of thought is where does park maintenance end and expecting big government to save you begin.

    Since the article used many New York park examples lets use a couple others.

    1. I am in Colorado hiking one of the trails by Winter Park and a tree kills me. A lot of trees in Colorado show obvious signs of weather related stress. Is the state responsible?

    2. You own 1,000 acres and we go deer hunting and a tree falls on me. Can I sue you? Is it different in your .25 acre back yard?

  • sandn
    11 years ago

    We are having a 100+ year sugar maple, one of three on our property, taken down tomorrow. I am heartbroken at the prospect of removing this graceful giant and creating a huge gap in the tree canopy of the whole neighbourhood. But the tree has a bad split in its trunk and a weighted stress test by an arborist revealed a bit of movement at the base of the trunk. Still, the canopy is vigorous and we've wondered so many time whether we're doing the right thing. I think this article makes me think that maybe we are. The city trees on our street are suffering exactly the kind of neglect the article describes. All of them have dead or dying branches overhanging the sidewalks. Calls to the city go unacknowledged. Thanks for the link. Even after reading that, tomorrow will be a hard day.

  • Dzitmoidonc
    11 years ago

    Sandn, having had to saw down some of the trees I planted (too stupid when I planted them so close together, too near the buildings, etc.), I can feel your loss. Look on the bright side. You will now have areas with more light for shrubs or flowers, and the hole in the canopy can be filled in with another tree, even another Sugar Maple if you choose.

  • lilkody
    11 years ago

    I agree with the posts here. Just because we suspect no danger, doesn't mean we should not look for it. Is the city responsible because you walked into a bad neighborhood, oblivious, and got robbed and shot?

  • poaky1
    11 years ago

    I think if a person gets hit by a tree that is rotten and gooey inside and needs medical care for the rest of their life they should sue. The article mentioned the lack of trained people doing a hit and miss inspection, and pruning schedules of more than seven years in between prunings. They need to do a better job so nobody has to die or have serious life changing injuries due to a gooey LONG time rotted tree. Why even have the budget to check them if you have trees that are in bad shape for a LONG time keep getting missed over MANY years of checking. I mean we're talking GOOEY tree wood here, hell yeah I would sue over a death or serious injury!!!!