Trimming tree branches near power lines is a familiar practice, but one Canarsie resident said a profound pruning has left the trees in her neighborhood looking like they were blown apart.
“You come down the street and it looks like a war zone,” said Miriam Miranda, who lives in Canarsie. “I took one look and I said ‘this is horrible.’ ”
Earlier this month, the energy company Con Edison chopped tree branches along East 85th Street, between Avenue L and Seaview Avenue, and Miranda thinks the arboreal aberration has deformed the trees and blighted her neighborhood.
“They look like pitchforks,” said Miranda. “The neighborhood looks ugly.”
A spokesman from Con Edison said the company trims the trees near its power lines as a precaution to avoid power outages resulting from branches falling on wires — a common problem in severe weather.
“We trim trees to ensure the safe, reliable delivery of electricity,” said a spokesman from Con Edison. “During storms — including Hurricane Sandy — trees and branches falling on our wires is the most common cause of customer outages on the overhead system. We want to limit those outages for customers and trimming trees is one strategy that we and other utilities use.”
The trimming — which cut the centers out of the crowns but left side branches intact — has divided the trees, but also the neighbors. Not every resident is upset with the tree trimming — one local said the cut is standard.
“They’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” said Dave Hamilton, who lives on the street.
But Miranda contends that the trimmings carried out in working-class Canarsie was sloppier than what would be acceptable in posher precincts.
“You go to Midwood and try to do it there, you go to Park Slope — they’ll shoot you. But this is a poorer neighborhood,” she said.
