Snowpocalypse Devastation in Brooklyn Heights: Tree Down on Hicks Street, Hits Car

By on February 10, 2010 8:25 pm in Brooklyn Heights

Flickr photo by mward99

“Marilyn” posted this photo in our BHB Snowpocalypse Photo contest thread of a tree down on Hicks Street near Remsen Remsen Street near Hicks tonight.  BHB tipster “Trey” reports that ANOTHER tree came down on Hicks near Love Lane tonight as well.

Any devastation near you? Streets not plowed? Comment below!

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  • bill

    any one wondering why this storm has so much negative spin to it?
    “Snowpacalypse”? “Any devastation near you?”

    I feel that the influence of negative news culture is permeating everything.
    Can’t we just have a plain old snow storm any more without all the drama attached??

    “february fury”??? how about “February like it ought to be”.

    my 2 cents.

  • Teddy

    It seems that lately the media tries to pimp any mundane event (like a normal snow storm) to the extreme.

    On a related note, I’m wondering how much longer some of those flat roofs in Maryland, Del. & PA will last, especially with another possible storm next week.

  • Andrew Porter

    I hardly think of the BHB as “the media”. No Rupert Murdochs behind the scenes here, providing fodder for political viewpoints.

    And, Teddy, where are you posting from? I’d say more than 90 percent of the roofs here in the Heights are flat. The only ones we have to worry about are those poorly maintained ones on Columbia Heights (is it #192?) and a few others. Maybe 100 Clark Street.

  • nabeguy

    I heard the D.C. Republicans are blaming the weather on Snowbama.

  • Rick

    This pic is actually on Remsen near Hicks, not vice versa.

  • sam

    Nice photo.

  • lifer

    I was walking up Degraw street towards Court street last night when right in front of me a huge branch (not as big as the picture, tho) made a cracking noise and fell on the trunk of someone’s minivan. Didn’t look like much damage, but certainly stopped me in my tracks (I was walking in the street).

  • Teddy

    @Andrew Porter

    I live in the Heights. Our flat roofs don’t have the weight of 30-40+ inches of snow at the moment like those in Maryland & PA.

  • cat

    Totally agree with Bill. I don’t get the “snowpacalypse”, “February Fury” crap either. It’s just a snowstorm in NY.

  • spm

    Bad neighbor Sleepy’s on Montague Street – they were the only store NOT to shovel their walk yesterday and so pedestrians had to maneuver over treacherous ice – shouldn’t they have been ticketed?

  • Marilyn

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/47502174@N08/?saved=1

    Two days after the snowstorm, this is what Grace Court Alley looks like…

  • nabeguy

    Marilyn, it’s an alley with no turn-around room for a plow. Even if they were to send a plow down the block, all of them have blades that slant to the right, which would pile the snow up on the doorsteps. Any way you look at it, you’re going to have to grap a shovel.

  • MRG6726

    My crew received work orders for both trees. Apparently the tree at 173 Hicks Street was on the news and there was a rush to get it cleaned up on Friday, 02.12.

    FYI: FDNY is dispatched to all emergencies, including tree-related ones. I’ve been working with trees for over 11 years now, and storm damage, particularly snow and ice, is the most dangerous type of tree work possible. FDNY is most certainly NOT trained to cut up a log in a yard, let alone cut limbs under extreme tension and in tight quarters. Every time I go to one of their messes, I see limbs cut in poor locations, stacked terribly and the burnt end of the log would indicate that their saws are dull and became bound up while cutting.

    The Parks Department doesn’t put out their fires. Nor do we arrest perpetrators. And we also don’t remove household garbage. Each agency serves a certain purpose and should not deviate from that certain purpose into the work best left to other agencies. I don’t blame these messes on the workers; I blame it on a lack of proper training.

    Your tax dollars are being misspent by having FDNY crews sent out to cut up downed limbs and trees and stack the debris in a tangled, messy pile. THEN, a Parks Forestry crew is sent to clean up the mess, spending twice as long to remove the mass of mess that was left behind. We would have cleaned up the debris safely and efficiently if we were the original responders and been able to do a much more thorough job.

    Rather, 173 Hicks and 52 Remsen serve as perfect examples of how leaving downed limbs and trees on the sidewalk or at the curb during the winter will simply not be cleaned as well. The brush had been buried under the snow and trying to extract the limbs and wood was quite a difficult task only exacerbated by cars, pedestrians, on-lookers and the fact that another NYC agency is called to do work that my co-workers and I are trained to do.

    1045 71 Street, between 10 & 11 Avenues down at the other end of the borough is another example of improper training creating a potential hazard for the public and the Parks’ Forestry crews who are later sent to remove the debris. FDNY arrived at the address, attempted to cut up the very large and broad limb that had failed, left some of the brush against the residents’ home and partially blocked his walkway. The best part is that a good amount of the brush was stacked DIRECTLY in front of a fire hydrant that was adjacent to the damaged tree and FDNY soon left the location.

    Lack of proper safety training and equipment will only result in future injuries, and a waste of the City’s budgetary reserves.

  • maia

    Well it looks like the tree on Hicks has been eliminated. All that’s left is some sawdust, alas. H, are you on here?

  • MRG6726

    Maia – my crew tended to the tree on Hicks just before noon on Friday and then we took care of the one on Remsen right after that. We even removed the snow from around the stumps to cut them as low to the ground as possible in order to avoid a hazard and any complaints and return trips once the snow melts.