“They just showed up…
By Jennifer Warren
The grove of budding cherry trees that surround Forest Hills’ Remsen Cemetery was pruned to the point of butchery last week when local American Legion members chainsawed several branches to the ground, civic and city officials say.
“They just showed up and started cutting trees,” said Joseph Tiraco, a civic leader whose property borders the cemetery at the corner of Trotting Course Lane and Woodhaven Boulevard. “Of course, we panicked and tried to do what we could to stop it.”
The extensive pruning was undertaken April 9 to clear a view of the Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony for city dignitaries who watch the annual event from tiered, stadium seating behind the trees.
“It’s so they can have a picture of themselves taken, and its completely contrary to the people that are buried here,” said Tiraco, director of the Remsen Park Coalition.
Tom Winberry, commander of the Forest Hills American Legion, however, said the pruning of the trees has been blown out of proportion.
“One got pruned back a little more than it should have,” he said. “George Washington didn’t have this much trouble with his cherry tree and he chopped his down.”
Winberry said the trees had been pruned in preparation for the Forest Hills Memorial Day Parade, but he maintained they were also becoming a safety hazard — blocking the light of street lamps and impeding pedestrians on the sidewalk.
The cemetery, a humble triangular plot just a few blocks south of the expansive St. John’s Cemetery, is a Revolutionary War memorial dedicated to four soldiers of the Remsen family.
Situated at the edge of the park a plaque cites the burial place of Col. Jeromus Remsen (1735-1790), who fought in the Battle of Long Island at a time when Forest Hills was known as “White Pot.” Further inside the park, two ivory statues of soldiers stand in uniform by three marble graves of other Remsen family members.
The city Parks Department, while not responsible for the land which is owned by the American Legion, visited the chopped trees last week to see what could be done. The Parks officials inquired whether the trees near the street could be considered “street trees” and therefore under the jurisdiction of the Parks Department, but they were not, said Jane Rudolph, a spokeswoman for the department.
The agency was looking into acquiring the cemetery to prevent this from happening in the future, Rudolph said.
“The commissioner would like to make them parkland. We have professional arborists who know what they’re doing, who are trained in tree care,” Rudolph said.
A member of the legion had told Tiraco and other neighbors who tend to the park that they were merely trimming the branches that were hanging over the sidewalk. Another worker had said they were only removing two trees, Tiraco said, but in the end several major limbs were amputated.
“A basic pruning is healthy for a tree,” said Rudolph. “Like a haircut, you cut off the dead ends and allow it to grow. The kind of hack job they had, it will take years for it to come back.”
Surveying the large pyre-like stacks of branches laying on the ground, Tiraco turned away from the park,
“It looks like carnage,” he said. “It looks like a battle had taken place.”
Reach reporter Jennifer Warren by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 155.
