City Climbers and Pruners waged an eight-year campaign that convinced the city to hire new tree maintenance workers, including the first woman on the job in 15 years.

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

ATOP a sturdy 8-inch limb, Nadine Lehrer balances herself as she trims deadwood from a tree. She hoists a chainsaw waist high, guns the motor and lops off a 20-foot high rotten branch that threatens to fall and damage a silver SUV parked nearby.

Lehrer is one of 33 Climbers and Pruners hired recently by the city Parks and Recreation Dept. – and first woman to win the job in 15 years. “Urban forestry gives me a chance to do environmentally conscious work,” said the 25-year-old former psychology student. “A block without trees is pretty dismal. Keeping trees healthy and streets safe from falling limbs makes neighborhoods more pleasant and livable.”


Ms. Lehrer and 19 others, including five former participants in the Work Experience Program, were picked for a two-year tree maintenance program taught by Donald Breen, an expert arborist and the former president of Local 1506.

After a vigorous exam, the class was whittled down to 10. They learned how to care for trees by clipping and pruning and how to operate power equipment such as chainsaws, wood chippers and the bucket trucks that lift them high into the treetops. The graduates were hired in November.

“We‘re surprised at the number of recent hires,” said John Huber, who became local president when Mr. Breen retired from the position in 2001. “In light of the events of Sept. 11 and the city‘s economic problems, this renews our members‘ sense of job security.”

Many Local 1506 members worked as year-round seasonals for five years or more before the Parks Dept. hired them full-time. The addition of 33 new civil servants to Local 1506 grows its membership to 75 from just 10 men in 1993. The feat was no walk in the park for Mr. Breen, Local 1506 and District Council 37.

Local goes out on a limb to save jobs
As local president, Donald Breen led an eight-year campaign to show New Yorkers that trees are a great resource and trained arborists are needed to keep them beautiful. He grafted citizen groups, local politicians and big name celebrities like Bette Midler to the quality-of-life issues rooted around trees. The local staved off privatization attempts and layoffs. And with help from DC 37, Mr. Breen went to court and forced the Parks Dept. to administer a civil service test.

“The Climbers and Pruners local met the city and private contractors head on,” said DC 37 Blue Collar Division Director José Sierra. “They became the benchmark for other locals that face contracting out and cutbacks. Local 1506 helped management see that workers succeed when they have input.”

“We built a public relations campaign around tree-planting events,” Mr. Breen said. The local sent seedlings and fruit baskets to Police precincts and politicians and petitioned among residents of historic districts. “Tree care is a soft issue,” he added. “There is no hidden agenda, so it“s always easy to drum up support.”

Neighborhood advocates pressured City Hall to replace long-neglected city-owned lots with gardens and trees. Volunteering on weekends, Local 1506 members planted trees to honor dead loved ones, fallen Firefighters and Police Officers and legendary New Yorkers like tennis great Arthur Ashe.

From Ditmas Park in Brooklyn to the Upper West Side, the newly trained Climbers and Pruners now care for thousands of city trees, from saplings to centuries-old oaks. They chop down dead and diseased trees and remove those felled by Nor’easters.

“We‘re still understaffed,” said Mr. Huber, “so we concentrate on tree maintenance and keep public safety first.”