Public Employee Press

City tree crews win high praise

In two ceremonies the Parks Dept. honored hundreds of DC 37 members who labored around the clock removing downed trees and restoring services after tornadoes and a microburst struck the city Sept. 16. One ceremony took place in Brooklyn Bridge Park Oct. 28, a second Nov. 15 at Terrace on the Park in Queens.

The public employee clean-up crews are still working to remove more than 1,500 felled trees, uprooted sidewalks, destroyed vehicles and debris from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

They first cleared streets so emergency vehicles could get through and utility companies could restore power and telephone service to 27,000 New Yorkers. The massive effort included members of DC 37 Locals 376, 983, 1506 and 1508 and Fire and Sanitation workers.

President Obama released $27 million in federal disaster aid to the city Oct. 15, but the funds do not cover the cost of replacing thousands of trees destroyed by the storm.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts urged the mayor to "turn disaster into triumph by creating forestry jobs to strengthen the city's middle class," instead of contracting out the work.

"We honor these hardworking men and women for their dedication. Just as public employees brought emergency relief when disaster hit," Roberts said, "the job of replanting and maintaining trees should continue to be assigned to unionized public workers."