Posted on 05/09/2010 6:39:03 AM PDT by Willie Green
The federal stimulus may be pumping greenbacks into the economy but it's also making a part of Woodside distinctly less green.
Locals are steamed over Amtrak's brush-clearing effort that recently chopped down more than a hundred mature trees along rails running parallel to Northern Blvd.
Homeowner George Olt, 69, whose property on 56th Place abuts the land owned by Amtrak, said he began hearing buzzsaws near his lush backyard on April30.
By the next day, some 200 trees - more than a hundred of them exceeding about 2 feet in diameter - had been felled, Olt said.
"It's not like the trees were dead," said Olt, a retired transit worker who has lived in the same home for 26 years. "They were in full bloom."
The leafy trees also acted as a noise buffer from passing trains, he and neighbors said.
Most of the felled trees - along a 200-foot section of the railway - were rooted more than 50 feet from the tracks, said Olt, who was skeptical of the railroad's claim that the clearing project would improve safety.
The project was funded by federal stimulus money and is part of a nationwide initiative to upgrade infrastructure, said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Coles.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Go Amtrak Go!!!
Why couldn’t Amtrak route the train around the trees?
/s
I would guess most of these Woodside NY folks are Democrats and voted for Obama.
This should serve as a wakeup call for the Obama voters about the State taking away their rights.
Maybe these likely Democrats will join us in repealing ObamaCare. Another example of the State taking away our freedoms.
Wake up Democrats.
They are not building any new train tracks there. Seems pruning could have done the job. I know the noise buffering that a natural boundary brings. This was a waste of our tax dollars.
Just part of that HopenChange y'all voted for, NYawkers.
If you (third person plural) favor make-work projects, then don’t be surprised when someone makes some work to do.
“buzz saws?”
Ha Ha!!
The whole stimulas thing was a waste. Local gov took the money and wasted most on things like new wheelchair ramps on every sidewalk. Just how many wheelchairs do you see onthe sidewalks, I see ZERO. The damn dems always piss away money, probably skimming their share in the process.
Indeed. "Let's see, we got all this money from the government - where we gonna spend it? I know! Let's cut down some trees! My buddy has a tree-trimming business and . . ."
Amtrak has no legal authority to set foot outside of their “right-of-way”
My grandfather had a farm with a freight spur running through it.
He used to send the Rail Road a bill for every tree they cut outside of the RoR. And yes he got paid every time.
The affected home owners need to check their plot plans.
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