Kingsbridge resident faces bureaucratic maze to report fallen tree

No city agency seems to want to be responsible for this tree, which fell over July 5 at the corner of West 234th Street and Kingsbridge Avenue, blocking a portion of the sidewalk.

IZANIA GONZALEZ

What is it going to take?

Kingsbridge resident Mary Hynes attempted to report a failing tree in her neighborhood to no avail. A week later, the tree fell over and blocked the sidewalk.

At press time, it’s still there.

On July 5, Hynes noticed the listing tree on the corner of West 234th Street and Kingsbridge Avenue, and attempted to report it. First, she called 911. The operator directed her to the fire department, whose representative, according to Hynes, told her the appropriate agency was the parks department.

She called the parks department and received no reply. 

Next, Hynes went online to try and fill out the complaint form for 311 under the category dead or dying tree but, when met with the request to input her home state, she received an error message.

Her home state?

Despite 311 only operating within the boundaries of New York City, the message on the 311 form read “state is invalid” when Hynes entered New York.

What next?

Hynes called Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s office to file a complaint.

His staffed asked for her 311-complaint number.

Several days later, having successfully reached no one, Hynes walked by the tree July 16 and saw it laying on the ground along the sidewalk. 

Now what?

The fire department did not respond to requests for comment.

A screenshot obtained by The Press shows Assemblyman Dinowitz used the 311 portal to complain about the tree. James Dezell, communications manager for Dinowitz, said the parks deprtment reached out to the assemblyman's office July 12, saying it would respond accodingly. 

But the tree was still there July 19, when parks department officials assured The Press they would take care of the matter and clear the fallen tree off the street.

It was still there at press time on July 23.

Fallen or damaged trees can also be reported on their website, NYCGovParks.org, by clicking on the trees category and selecting the tree services option. 

When the department receives a public-service request, parks officials perform an inspection to determine the level of risk a tree or branch poses to the public. The levels of risks are ranked according to three categories: the likelihood of tree failure, impact, and the consequences of impact.

Trees are inspected to determine if the condition will worsen to failure, which includes broken or hanging branches, cracks in the trunk or branches, and parts of the tree already dead or dying.

Impact is determined by deciding the chance of the tree impacting people, buildings, animals, infrastructure, vehicles and landscape if it were to fall.

The last step of the inspection includes assessing the potential consequences of the tree falling and the injury, damage or harm it would cause. Considering the consequences also means inspectors analyze the size of the tree, its limbs, and the distance of the tree’s fall. 

At least it’s a thorough process once someone swings into action.

The parks department did not tell The Press whether it received Hynes’ initial complaint. 

The 311 system is set up to assist New Yorkers with filing complaints or concerns of all kinds, either with the online portal or over the phone. Submissions need to be placed in pre-determined categories and, once filed, are filtered to be sent to the respective city agency responsible for addressing the concern. 

Councilman Eric Dinowitz has been an advocate for making changes to the 311 system for some time, including proposing legislation to alter the handling of complaints and the overall process. Dinowitz said the system overhaul is due to several issues that have been reported with 311. 

In the case of Hynes’s error message in her submission, tests of the 311-reporting system revealed the proper format to submit the state information was in abbreviated form, so New York would be entered as NY however, the 311 website does not denote that specification. 

Dinowitz has proposed nine-part legislation to fix 311, one of which would compel 311 to give callers a wait time for when they will be assisted. This portion of the legislation was recently approved and will be enacted beginning June 30, 2025.

Maybe the tree will have decomposed by then.