Letter to the Lynbrook/East Rockaway Herald Editor (Feb. 24-March 2)

Posted

We should be saving trees, not cutting them down

To the Editor:

Is it not ironic that the Village of Lynbrook has an aggressive, comprehensive tree-planting program, and New York City leaders would like to make the city greener by planting an additional 1 million trees, but the Lynbrook School District is planning to turn the children’s playground on Marion Street into a parking lot?

This effort will destroy seven decades-old trees, including the ones on the street. So the children and parents using the playground, which is now cooler in the summer thanks to the large tree canopy, will have to use a prospective new playground.

Amid the hot blacktop, parking lot and synthetic football field, temperatures in the playground will most assuredly rise. With the absence of the tree canopy, a safer, more pleasant experience will be lost. Who among us doesn’t seek out a large tree canopy when the temperature gets into the 90s?

These were the views that I expressed at last month’s school board meeting. This project may look good on paper, but will not be an asset to the stakeholders (i.e. children and parents), our environment or taxpayers’ wallets.

Robert Sympson, Lynbrook