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Volume XX • Number 15 • April 11 - 17, 2013 •
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The case of the missing trees: Fieldston is now ‘Stump City’ By HAYDEE CAMACHO Some streets in the Fieldston area are suddenly looking a bit sunnier these days or more sparse, depending on your point of view. A tree removal program has been underway on 250th Street between Waldo and Goodridge Avenue. The removal was based on a study conducted by Paul Cowie and Associates, the arborist and urban forestry firm which has managed the tree care program for the Fieldston Property Owners Association for 14 years. They have been evaluating trees in the area since a storm in March, 2010 resulted in severe property damage and power loss due to the collapse of ten trees. The study found that many of the trees had severe root decay. In addition, some trees had already been partially uprooted by Hurricane Sandy and previous storms. “Unfortunately, trees don’t live forever,” said Paul Cowie, owner of the arborist firm. “The trees that were removed had lived out their service life. Some were 90 years old. They have a fixed life span and New York City has all kinds of environmental pressures.” Based on the firm’s findings, Cowie said that the Board of Directors of the Fieldston Property Owners Association came to the decision to embark on a threeyear plan to remove about 45 weakened trees and replace them with the same trees, red oaks. The plan is in the second year. “You just have to think about the safety of the residents and all the people going through Fieldston.” Councilman Oliver Koppell saw the removal of 9 trees on his street. “It’s unfortunate, but they (FPOA) said it had to be done,” he said. “We had all these beautiful trees
which are a feature of our Fieldston community and now they’re gone. My neighbors have complained to me.” “The trees are problematic,” said 15-year Fieldston resident Annette Fitzgerald. She remarked that trees have fallen on her property as well as on neighbor’s homes and cars causing severe property damage. She also had a bad fall one evening walking home from work when she tripped over a raised tree trunk that had been obscured by fallen leaves. “The trees are great in the summer, but whenever it’s windy I’m afraid because a lot of these trees are very fragile.” For now, Cowie says some of the streets look the way they did in photographs taken in 1910 after the homes were built. He doesn’t see a detrimental effect on property values. “You have to think of this as temporary,” he said. “The trees we replaced will grow up. You can get to a point where your property values drop if you’re not maintaining the community.”