Parks wants you to waste time calling 311

From CBS New York:

A Queens woman says she is stumped by the city Parks Department.

Janice Derr made a detailed list of tree troubles in her neighborhood, but when she sent it to the department they said ‘no thanks.’

“I try to make it pretty because this is a corner house,” she told CBS 2′s Tony Aiello, “I paint the mailboxes when there’s graffiti on them, I pick up garbage, I try to be a good citizen to keep my community alive and healthy and attractive.”

A few weeks ago Derr took a drive through her Queens Village neighborhood and noted a number of tree stumps on city property that were waiting to be removed by the Parks Department.

Derr made a detailed survey that listed the specific tree troubles at 69 different addresses. She sent the list to the Parks Department and asked State Senator Tony Avella to follow-up.

“She did all the work. How dare a city agency tell her and me, ‘we’re not accepting this,’” Avella said.

In a letter, the department said that she would have to address each and very issue with a 311 call.

Due to budget cuts the backlog of stumps to be removed is estimated at more than 10,000.

Stumped in Brooklyn

I saw this last week when I was waiting for a bus in Brooklyn. The front of the truck says "disaster relief" and the Caterpillar on the back hails from Louisiana Machinery.  I guess what struck me the most about this scene is that there apparently are tree stumps being removed somewhere in the city, but I don't know where.  Certainly not from city streets.

Stumped in Flushing

"Does anyone else have this situation? On 2 blocks on 149 Street between Bayside Ave and 33 Ave there are 13 stumps, most of which are 1 to 2 yrs old.

NYC.gov/311:

Stump Removal
All stumps remaining from tree removal operations performed by Parks are recorded and registered. Stump removals are dependent on the availability of funding. We currently have a backlog of stumps awaiting removal. If you are a property owner who would like a City-owned stump removed, we have two options for you to consider:
1) You can request a new tree via 311 or our tree service request system, and if the stump is less than approximately 30 inches in diameter, our planting contractors will remove the stump during a new tree planting process.
2) You can obtain a tree work permit from Parks and hire a contractor to remove the stump at your own expense. If you prefer this option, permit applications and instructions are available on our Working On or Near Trees page.

But what if some old tree locations do not get a new tree?
How may years will it take for the Parks Dept to plant them?
It's laughable that they suggest each homeowner pay to remove all these stumps. Or are we to have to look at them indefinitely until they've rotted and disappeared?

They say stump removal is based on money available, but they have the money to inspect & cut the trees down & new tree planting if we ask for one?" - Concerned in Flushing