There are a lot of reasons we don't go around chopping trees willy-nilly. To start, we aren't lumberjacks. But also? We don't want to run the risk of being fined by the city for our efforts. For example, in 2008 Staten Island developer Block 3066 went a removed some "unstable," "dead" and "dangerous" trees from five properties it was building up and now it has to pay more than $135,000 in fines.
The problem is that the properties are in a Special Natural Area District, which makes it illegal to mess with the land without permission (shocking, with a name like Special Natural Area, we know). In early 2008 Block removed the offending trees and in September of that year the company was sent a letter from the Parks Department asking them to pay up for the "unaccounted tree removals, missing and dead trees." The amount, $135,038 "reflects the quantitative value of the trees to the city’s street-tree natural infrastructure," according to the Department.
Rather than pay up, Block simply did nothing for 20 months before appealing the "excessive" fines. Only problem? Such an appeal has a four-month statute of limitations, which made Block a good 16 months too late. Which is another reason why it is also good to check your mail.
Meanwhile, the trees (though we have no idea which ones are the missing ones) live on in Google Street view.
