Some New Yorkers Can't See the Forest for the Trees

MillionTreesNYC says they're on track to reach their goal by 2017. Trees provide shade and allay problems of air pollution. They've planted hundreds of thousands of trees already... and received some complaints.

1 minute read

October 16, 2009, 9:00 AM PDT

By Alek Miller

"Two trees planted in Queens were yanked from the dirt and hurled into the East River after a man complained that they were blocking his water view.

People have driven cars onto sidewalks to block tree-planters. They have even used what Jennifer Greenfield, the city Parks and Recreation Department's director of street-tree planting, calls the Alzheimer's Excuse.

It was used by a Brooklyn woman who said her Alzheimer's-afflicted mother would not recognize their home if a tree were planted outside.

'Would you say that if someone put up a new traffic light or a stop sign?' Greenfield asked incredulously.

The tree went in."

FULL STORY: A tree grows (and dies) in Brooklyn

Thursday, October 15, 2009 in Los Angeles Times

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