Fallen trees from Hurricane Sandy causing additional problems - violations from the City

A downed tree in Astoria

The NY Daily News reports that homeowners are dismayed at the violations they’re getting from the City in relation to the trees – some of them quite large – that fell on their houses and property as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Queens civic leaders and homeowners are highly annoyed by this turn of events, which they deem unfair. They want the violations removed; it’s important to note that these violations do not carry financial penalties on the property owner.

The notices indicated that “property owners that they would be subject to criminal prosecution if they did not address the violation immediately.” Those at the end of these violations would like the City to come up with a different way of addressing this issue now and in the future, after other hurricanes and superstorms. The Queens Civic Congress suggested that the Buildings Department send letters to those who received a violation so that they could document it as storm-related. So far, the response from the City is for property owners to call 311.

Of the five boroughs, Queens suffered the most downed trees after Hurricane Sandy and the following nor’easter, so it’s understandable that people in the borough are especially concerned about this situation.

City violations an added insult to storm victims in Queens [NYDN]
The trees in Queens suffered during Hurricane Sandy and the nor’easter – thousands toppled [QNYC]