The city’s restrictions on fixing root-damaged sidewalks are driving homeowners up a tree.
Unruly tree roots are damaging sidewalks in Southern Brooklyn — leaving pedestrians at risk of falling, and homeowners vulnerable to lawsuits — but homeowners say the convoluted system for getting repairs isn’t solving the problem.
“The city takes the position you should just let everyone fall,” said Bergen Beach homeowner Linda Schain, who was sued in 2009 after a woman was injured tripping in the root-ripped sidewalk in front of her house.
The city shares liability for lawsuits over sidewalk cracks outside one-to-three-family properties, but Schain said the woman filed two suits — one against the city, which was thrown out, and another against Schain, which her insurance company recently settled after four tumultuous years.
Schain has repaired the sidewalk repeatedly over the years, but she said the ruthless roots keep lifting the concrete, making her attempts at leveling the land futile.
To prevent more injuries and further damage to her sidewalk, Schain is trying to get a permit from the city to remove the tree — an expense she said she’d gladly pay. But Schain said the city denied her request because the tree is considered healthy.
“I’m willing to pay to remove — but they won’t give me a permit,” she said.
If a sidewalk is damaged from general decay, the Department of Transportation can issue residents with a violation and homeowners must repair their sidewalks. But if the damage is from tree roots, residents may be eligible for the Parks Department’s Trees and Sidewalks Program, which repairs the sidewalks — but only if the situation meets certain requirements.
The Parks Department gives root-damaged sidewalks ratings from zero to 100. But the department would not give a concrete answer about it determines which sidewalks get repaired.
There are five categories that go into a sidewalk’s rating — the location, the condition of the tree, the extent of the damage, how high it was lifted by the root, the length of the damaged section, and the proportion of the breadth of that section that is damaged.
After repeated requests for details, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department refused to elaborate on how each category is scored to determine who qualified for the repairs.
“The trees are evaluated on a scale and then addressed by priority,” said Parks spokeswoman Meghan Lalor.
A Marine Park homeowner who said her sidewalk is lifted three inches off the ground by tree roots, finally received an inspection after almost a year of requesting one. She said her rating missed qualifying for the program by a measly five points.
“I’ve already been inspected and they deemed it was not high enough to do a repair,” said Wilma Lande. “They gave me an 80 rating, it is supposed to be 85 — it is a game.”
She said she doesn’t know what else she can do to fix the damaged sidewalk — or the rating system that is leaving her out on a limb.
“It is very frustrating to know you have this situation,” said Lande.
