News Of The Neighborhoods
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

Neighbors Warn City: 'Don't Touch Our Tree!"

Flushing residents hugged a majestic beech tree as they joined City Councilmember John Liu in a warning to officials at the city School Construction Authority (SCA) to keep their hands - and buzz saws - off a century-old wych elm tree growing on the construction site of Public School 244 on Franklin Avenue.

Speaking at a July 9 press conference in the shade of the wych elm Liu said, "We won't stand for empty promises this time." The Queens lawmaker said residents are still fuming over the demise, earlier this year, of a stately copper leaf beech tree that was felled by construction crews at the same site. Liu said the community received empty promises from the SCA before the beech tree was chopped down. "They [SCA] said the magnificent beech tree would not be harmed during construction. They assured us for years that nothing would happen to the copper leaf beech tree."

Liu said he had several conversations about the beech tree with the SCA and construction engineers after work began on the new school. "First, they said the tree needed trimming, then they said the tree's structure had been compromised, and then they told us the tree had been cut down because it was a safety hazard. I was speechless when I learned what they had done." Liu said he wants to make sure the wych elm tree does not meet the same fate during the school construction.

Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson Marge Feinberg said construction crews put a fence around the wych elm, while DOE engineers work with the Parks Department to create a safety plan to protect both the tree and students at the new school.

Feinberg described Liu's protest as unfair and said the DOE told Liu from the beginning that the beech tree would be protected. "We never promised to save the beech tree," Feinberg said.

Consulting arborist Carsten Glaeser told a crowd gathered for the July 9 press conference that wych elm trees, once most common in New York City, are disappearing because of disease bearing beetles. The Franklin Avenue wych elm seems to be resistant to the disease and will most likely live for many years, Glaeser said. "This tree is part of our Flushing family, like all of us are," Liu said at the press conference. "We want to see that nothing happens to this tree."

No. 7 Trains, Stations Scored

Officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) kicked off a major campaign last week, asking straphangers to score trains, stations, worker courtesy and service on the elevated line.

MTA officials donned orange vests as they handed out "Rider Report Cards" on platforms between the Flushing/Main Street and 90th Street/Elmhurst Avenue stations on July 10. Officials also handed out report cards at stations in Jackson Heights, Woodside, Queens Plaza and Times Square last week, where riders scooped-up an opportunity to voice their feelings about service on the notorious line- once dubbed the "Toonerville Trolley" by locals.

Scores will be tabulated over the next two weeks in categories ranging from service, station and car cleanliness, employee courtesy and passenger safety to graffiti removal and safe space provided for straphangers on subway platforms.

MTA spokesperson Marissa Baldeo said officials handed out more than 54,000 report cards to No. 7 straphangers last week, and surveys will eventually be conducted on all MTA bus and subway lines.

To obtain a copy or to complete a No.7 train "Report Card" go to: www.MTA.info.

Animals Poisoned At Kissena Park

City Parks Department investigators and local police are trying to determine who placed poisonlaced cans of cat food in Kissena Park, killing four raccoons and a pet pooch and causing caustic injury to several other family pets.

Parks Department workers found the tainted cat food near the dead raccoons on a bike track at the Flushing park on June 29, police sources said. Parks Department spokesperson Abby Lootens said a local resident called the agency recently to report that her family dog accidentally tasted the tainted cat food and died.

Investigators at the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are conducting toxicology tests on the raccoons and the cat food, to determine if the food caused the deaths. Results of the testing are expected within the next week.

Area residents said homeowners are often plagued by the raccoons, who ravage garbage cans. The animals have also been known to attack and kill family pets in local back yards, residents said. "But it's outrageous to think that someone would take matters into their own hands like this," said homeowner Amy Lin-Yan. "You leave this problem to people who know what they're doing, or you might end up killing innocent animals and children," she said.

Police sources said Parks Department officials believe the food was tainted with strychnine. They are warning pet owners to keep a close eye on leashed and unleashed dogs and cats in Kissena Park.

Parents are also advised to watch young children very carefully while in the park. We have to remain alert and conscious to avert any tragedy.

Civil War Statue Rehabbed

A Civil War statue erected at Calvary Cemetery more than 150 years ago is undergoing a facelift by Parks Department employees.

The Civil War Soldiers' Monument was erected at the cemetery in 1866 to pay homage to Irish- Catholic soldiers who died during the war. Cemetery officials said 21 Civil War soldiers are buried at the site.

Renovations include cleaning, painting and recoating of the Axeman (engineer) figure, one of four life-size figures that make up the monument. Three other figures, including a cavalryman, artilleryman and infantryman join the Axeman overlooking a large obelisk to complete the monument. Each figure represents a military division active in the Union Army during the Civil War.

Officials at the city Department of Parks and Recreation are hopeful that the restoration will spark additional funding to pay for a complete facelift for the monument.

The monument is currently missing four bronze eagles, two of which were stolen by vandals in the 1980s, and two that have been in storage since shortly after the thefts.

The facelift is sponsored by the Citywide Monuments Conservation Program, a division of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.