New program repairs property damaged by trees

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I got this from silive.com: Friday, April 01, 2005 By MICHAEL SCHOLL

Borough President James P. Molinaro joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials yesterday in announcing a new city program for repairing sidewalks damaged by the roots of street trees.

The Trees & Sidewalks Repair Program is a Department of Parks & Recreation initiative to repair as many as 2,000 damaged sidewalks each year.

At the news conference in Queens, Bloomberg said the repairs will be performed entirely at city expense, sparing homeowners.

"Street trees make a neighborhood alive and vibrant, but unfortunately, they can also damage its sidewalks, leaving them unsightly and hazardous," Bloomberg said. "Up until now, the cost to repair this damage has been borne by the homeowner and can reach as much as $1,000 per tree.

"The new Trees & Sidewalks Repair Program will relieve the financial burden of homeowners who are trying to keep their sidewalks safe and beautiful," the mayor added.

"I applaud Mayor Bloomberg for extending this help to homeowners with sidewalks damaged by tree roots," Molinaro said. "Many residents on Staten Island face this problem. Our borough has over 1,000 miles of roads and 90,000 street trees."

The program will have a $3.4 million budget this year; funds will be allocated by Bloomberg, Molinaro, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion.

"The funding by the mayor and borough presidents, including $500,000 from my capital budget, will allow residents to gain new, safe sidewalks at no cost to them," Molinaro said."This is an example of government getting to the root of a problem and solving it."

City officials said repairs would be assigned priority based on severity of sidewalk damage, percentage of a sidewalk affected by damage and volume of sidewalk traffic.

Anyone interested in having a damaged sidewalk fixed should call 311 and ask for the Trees & Sidewalks Repair Program.

Michael Scholl covers City Hall for the Advance. He may be reached at scholl@siadvance.com. Copyright 2005 SILive.com. All Rights Reserved.