Sunday, October 14, 2012

Tree fight in Bellerose

From the Times Ledger:

A stately, 100-year-old Black Locust tree has sparked a war between two neighbors in Bellerose, with one man claiming the tree’s roots damaged his property and one woman worried that clearing the roots would cause the massive tree to topple over.

The neighbors both agree the spat began with a conversation across their shared backyard fence this summer. During the conversation, Mahendra Shah, who lives on 250th Street, asked Carolina Florica, who lives on 249th Street, where the tree is located, if she would remove some of the large, shallow tree roots growing onto his property.

After that point, however, they seem to agree on almost nothing.

Shah said he wants the tree roots gone because he believes they caused a large crack in the wall of his stand-alone, single-car garage and in the stones of his back patio.

He also said he is considering building a shed in the backyard, but cannot move forward with the plan unless the roots are scaled back.

But Florica disputes Shah’s allegation that the tree is the cause of the garage’s crack and says she should not be responsible for cutting the tree roots, saying the tree was there long before she or her neighbor were.

Florica called a New York-certified home inspector with Garber Home Inspections and an urban ecologist with Worldwide Ecology, Dr. Steven D. Garber, to inspect the tree and Shah’s garage this summer. According to an affidavit Garber gave to Florica’s attorney, the garage’s damage was not due to the tree but rather to freezing and thawing water from the roof, which Garber said does not have a gutter and is poorly maintained.

In addition, the affidavit warns cutting away portions of the tree’s root system could be dangerous, making it more susceptible to health issues “that could weaken the tree, cause death of parts of the tree and make it more likely to lose branches [or] fall in a storm.”

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

An awful lot of 3rd world immigrants
simply don't like trees....PERIOD!

They are responsible for denuding neighborhoods
of the luxurious green that makes those nabes
desirable places to live in.

People...correction...SAVAGES like these...
are arrogant, abusive and intrusive.
Many want to recreate the living conditions of their homeland.

They fill up every inch of their properties
with building projects.

Should a tree be in the way...they want it out!

I hope it falls and cleaves their house in half!

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately a lot of Bellrose is turning into
an Indo-Pak-etc. working class dump.

It never was much.

Anonymous said...

My Sicilian next door neighbor
came crying to me once..."warda" (look).

She pointed to a small tree branch, from my yard
that fell into hers, which had broken one of her "pomodoro" (tomato) and "fagiolini" (string bean) plants.

I should cut my tree down because "itsa-danger".

I told her I'd buy her a pound of beans and tomatoes to replace her plants.

She shrugged..."ma...bah"!

Anything taller than a tomato plant is viewed as dangerous threat to such "gavones" as these.

Trees are useless things in their view...
because you cant make sauce from them.

You can depend upon one truth...peasants
are peasants no matter where they come from.

Rick said...

Nice bunch of comments, these first three.

(sigh)

Anonymous said...

Former homeowner near me knocked down the house and cut down 6 huge trees. Built a huge house and had lots of parties the first summer they lived there. They rented tents for their yard so their guests would not bake. Then they moved two years later. Barbarians.

Anonymous said...

tree roots sometimes cause drain backups in the basement, cutting them down isn't always for aesthetic reasons, there are practical ones sometimes.

Anonymous said...


Uh..."ranger Rick"...
if it makes any difference anon #3 (that's me)
happens to be Italian-American.

ITALIANS HATE TREES!

If seeing the the raw truth hurts your sensitive eyes,
then stay off this site...wussie1

Anonymous said...

Preventing drain backups is what Roto Rooter is for.

If you people weren't so damn cheap,
you'd have your drains cleared out every 2 years.

You are just a 3rd world tree hater.

Rick Shaw said...

"No rikee tlee...too many here...Frushing.

Anonymous said...

#2 "many want to recreate the living conditions of their homeland ".
an Asian has spent a lot of $$$$cutting the trees and shrubs away , to concrete two driveways(one too many on a 60'x120' lot). no curb cut permits. the property has been converted to a Asian Religion Shrine.
they never use the driveways,instead parking their vehicles on the street in front of the driveways. asian hogging of public parking. two address #'s have replaced one ,even though the zoning is R2A.(only 1 family with 2nd floor, on a lot this size.

Anonymous said...

These low lifes deserve to have flooded basements
for cementing over their water absorbing lawns.

Welcome you little E-Coli turds! Let's go fishing.

Anonymous said...

Save the tree for the next owner.

Anonymous said...

It's not just immigrants as my parents are immigrants and they have made our gardens flourish. In Bayside where I grew up, the tree lined streets and front and back gardens have been paved over by concrete or those paving stones- I think people are to effin' lazy to rake a leaf or cut a lawn.
Then in the summer everyone tries to park under the one or two trees that have not been killed just to catch some shade.