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| Another loved Manhasset entry arbor, Park Avenue |
STUMPED
The above headline appeared on the front page of the Manhasset Press on March 29, 2013.
The photos beneath it caught my eye because I am a lover of trees - a love which first formed in my Manhasset childhood.
I recognized the lush flowering cherries and pears blooming along Shelter Rock Road immediately and was puzzled by the bleak photo - appearing beneath - of telephone poles, a chain link fence, and - wait a minute, tree stumps?
Pat Grace, Editor of the Press, took the photos and wrote the copy:
“The Cherry and Bradford Pear trees along Shelter Rock Road and Searingtown Road that, more than anything else in Manhasset, once heralded spring - are gone. Stumps line the roads for Spring 2013.”
My heart squeezed as I thought of Manhasset’s dying dogwoods I’d watched disappear decades ago. What disease got these, I wondered?
Then I read on, and it turned out: Nassau County ordered their removal as part of a $68 million contract with Great Tree Services, Inc.
Seriously.
One yet-to-be-elected candidate for county comptroller offered this information: “...there is no documentation for the work [Great Services, Inc.] did. They were paid per tree to remove trees and the County did not supervise their work.”
He said what?????? “... paid per tree...the county did not supervise their work.”
The Village of North Hills Mayor, Marvin Natiss, told Ms. Grace that when he questioned the County, he was told only diseased trees were removed. Natiss reiterates what Ms. Grace’s March 2013 photo reveals: All the trees are gone, and, according to this news report, no one knows who authorized the total devastation.
I live in Georgia. Bradford Pears and Japanese Cherry trees abound in our neighborhoods and along our highways and by-ways. Every year we watch tree crews come through pruning and cutting the bare branches back from the power lines, while doctoring or relieving diseased trees of their pain.
It’s an orderly and informative process that sends us home to do the same with our own cherries and pears - knowing that their limbs are weak and prone to cause storm damage.
My point is: We see this happen annually. Did no commuter, driving from the LIE to and from work, witness what was happening? Did the tree removers come in the dark of night? Did they cut down every fourth tree first, then thin them out until they slowly disappeared, hoping no one would notice?
I wish some hero had jumped from her car and tied herself to a tree with her Spanx while the workers were buzz-sawing their way through two of Manhasset’s most beautiful entry arbors. I know she would have inspired other drivers to join her.
My Manhasset Press subscription arrives several days behind, so last week’s issue may contain letters aplenty on this topic. I sure hope so.
This was just a ruthless slaughter in my tree-lover opinion. No wonder honey bees are having a hard time surviving.
Which brings me to an even more difficult loss that follows yet another senseless act perpetrated by humans:
What is it we don’t get about the destruction of natural beauty?
It is what gives all living things breath, joy, and hope.
When we wipe it away carelessly, we’re denying ourselves the very roots of our sustenance, leaving us, well...yes: "Stumped."
Consider the honey bees.
