Crystal and Schumer ‘stump’ for Long Beach

Call on FEMA, HUD to cover $2.5 million in post-Sandy tree replacement costs

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Actor Billy Crystal stood on the corner of Monroe Boulevard and East Chester Street, just a few blocks from where he grew up, and recalled playing ball as a boy along the Park Avenue malls that were once lined with idyllic sycamore trees.

“That’s where we learned how to play baseball, that’s where we learned how to play football, that’s where we sat under a tree and read a book,” said Crystal, who moved to California in 1976. “They’re all gone — all of these beautiful sycamores that have been here for almost 100 years are gone. The public areas need these trees. Kids need these trees in parks and public walkways.”

Crystal was referring to the thousands of trees that have been removed throughout his hometown as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Due to safety concerns, and because the trees were inundated with saltwater, the city has been removing trees — such as those along medians and sidewalks — throughout Long Beach that were found to be dead or substantially damaged.

At a press conference on Monday, where they were joined by city officials, Crystal and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to cover the city’s costs of removing and replacing 2,500 damaged trees, a project estimated to cost $2.5 million.

In February, the City Council voted unanimously to hire Brooklyn-based Dragonetti Brothers Nursery and Landscaping to remove the trees, and the work began in May. After the storm, the city said that arborists conducted a 200-point inspection and determined that more than 45 percent of the trees they had assessed should be removed.

Jim LaCarrubba, the commissioner of public works, said that the removal process is about 95 percent complete. City officials said that while FEMA is expected to reimburse the city for the tree removal, it is not covering the costs of replacement or the removal of tree stumps.

“The destruction of the trees has been a significant loss for the city,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said. “And so, we still need the funding … for the replacement of those trees. We simply cannot pay on our own.”

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