Monday, September 13, 2010

Amtrak to start tree planting

From the Times Ledger:

Amtrak will soon begin planting hundreds of trees along the tracks in western Queens following its decision last spring to clear trees in Woodside near the Astoria border.

Residents near Boulevard Gardens, at 51st Street and 32nd Avenue close to the border of Astoria and Woodside, were livid in May after they found out that Amtrak had removed hundreds of trees along its tracks.

For many residents, the trees provided the only shield from noise caused by trains moving along the tracks, said state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria).

Gianaris said Amtrak will plant as many as 600 trees and shrubs along its tracks in Woodside at a total cost of $460,000, the assemblyman said. The railroad will also add 12,000 feet of standard fencing along the tracks and 100 feet of ornamental fencing.

A spokesman for Gianaris said the project would likely be done by October. The railroad has hired a landscape horticulturist to assist in the project.

Amtrak will maintain the trees for one year.

“They promised to replant trees, but then kept cutting them anyway,” Gianaris said. “The community was up in arms. So, it’s encouraging they said they will replant the trees. But I’ll believe it when I see it.”


That's an interesting way to phrase it, Mike. Most elected officials would vow to make sure that Amtrak keeps their promise, not say they'll 'believe it when they see it'. This is the caliber of representation we have in the western end of the borough. And soon he'll be bringing this enthusiasm to a higher level in Albany!

6 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

Instead of planting the trees, Amtrak ought to plant Gianaris - that would be nice buffered sound.

What has this moron ever accomplished except farting through his ears?

Anonymous said...

They would have saved us millions if they JUST PRUNED THEM instead of committing TREE MURDER and putting forth this farce of replanting.

NO ONE wants to live near something like this. These criminals have ruined the real estate value around here.

Anonymous said...

ummm he already is in Albany. Queens Crap what great bloggers. Ha!

Queens Crapper said...

He is? What does he do there?

Anonymous said...

While I think that this stimulus money could certainly have been better spent, the tree complainers need to get a life. I live about 100 yards from the tracks and I never hear trains except when they blow their horns, and trees are not going muffle that sound.

Anonymous said...

Mystery Man Mike works in Albany and is part of the scene there.

Now this kid shows up and tell Con Edison he knows all about power generation and they are wrong.

The really funny thing is the locals, instead of telling Mystery Man Mike to FIX ALBANY actually BELIEVE him that he knows more about power distribution than Con Ed.