Historic Grove Endangered by Parks' Subcontractors
From the Queens Chronicle
Historic Grove Threatened By Contractor
by Colin Gustafson, Assistant Editor
03/15/2007
Flushing residents fighting to preserve a historic grove of rare trees in Kissena Park are furious over what they call a private landscaper’s “reckless disregard” in allowing heavy-duty trucks near the endangered arboreal specimens.
After receiving guarantees that no trucks would come close to the exotic trees, which were planted in the 1870s, Kissena Park Civic Association President Beverly McDermott said she was appalled to find landscaping vehicles plowing through the grove on Monday. “It was just a disaster,” she said. “They didn’t damage any of the tree trunks, but there were trucks kicking up dirt (in an area where) you have a very fragile root system. … It may not have looked too bad, but it couldn’t have been worse.”
The trucks’ owners are EES Inc., a Long Island-based firm contracted by the Department of Parks and Recreation to install a Korean War memorial. As of press time, the firm had not returned calls for comment.