FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com JULY 11, 2013 • THE COURIER SUN 17 Woodhaven in a tizzy over tree BY LIAM LA GUERRE lguerre@queenscourier.com A tree grows in Woodhaven — but residents say it’s the wrong one. They are barking mad that the Parks Department replaced the nearly 30-year-old Woodhaven holiday tree, which was downed by Sandy, with a deciduous “street tree.” “That tree meant a lot to the residents What every woman should know about Long Island hospitals. Healthgrades ® ® has recognized only one New York State hospital for its superior care of women*: Winthrop. If every hospital provided women with the same level of care as Winthrop and the other Women’s Health Excellence Award™ recipients, nearly 40,000 lives could have been saved†. A recent landmark study by Healthgrades®, the leading independent health care ratings organization, of women aged 65 years and older, 2008-2010, reveals some alarming facts. Following a heart attack, for example, women receive far fewer surgical interventions than men. And when they do, women suffer a 29.1% higher death rate. Other disturbing disparities were found across 16 of the most common diagnoses and procedures among women. But women are not powerless. A small percentage of hospitals are doing a far superior job for women. And saving thousands of lives. Only one of these elite institutions is located in Nassau and Suffolk counties – Winthrop-University Hospital. Your health means everything. To you and your family. To learn more, visit winthrop.org or call 1.866.WINTHROP for a physician referral. Winthrop-University Hospital is one of only seven hospitals nationwide, and the only hospital in New York State, to simultaneously receive all three of these achievements. 259 F irst S t reet, M ineola, N ew York 1 1501 • 1 .866.WINTHROP • w inthrop.org * As measured by outcomes in Women’s Health, Gynecologic Surgery and Maternity Care, 2012. † Healthgrades 2012 Trends in Women’s Health In American Hospitals. of Woodhaven,” said Alex Blenkinsopp, communications director for the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA). “We had expected that a suitable replacement would be planted in place of our lost holiday tree.” The former tree on Forest Parkway near Jamaica Avenue was more than three stories tall and was used for the community’s annual tree lighting ceremony for 27 years. The Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation (GWDC) bought and planted it when it was only about seven feet tall. Before the tree was EXCLUSIVE planted, residents had used an artifi cial tree for the lighting ceremony. The new one is approximately 15 feet tall with a trunk diameter of about four inches, but is expected to grow. Neighbors believe the new tree will not be a suitable replacement because deciduous trees lose their leaves, meaning they will not be able to decorate it and it will not be distinct from other trees on the block. The WRBA started a Facebook page dedicated to finding a suitable replacement, called “Restore Woodhaven’s Holiday Tree,” on July 7. Since then, the page has gained more than 200 likes. Steve and Janet Forte, members of the WRBA, volunteered to donate a nine-foot pine in their yard that they obtained more than a decade ago from the Arbor Day Foundation. The couple wants to give it away because it will eventually outgrow their yard and they want to help keep the tradition rooted in Woodhaven for generations to come. “It’s a traditional thing and when you go away from tradition you lose a piece of the neighborhood. It’s like losing a part of the family,” Forte said, adding that the tree is “sort of an icon in Woodhaven.” Parks is aware of the problem with the replacement and will work to fi x it, offi cials said. “We planned to plant a Christmas tree there with the Parks Department and we planned a ceremony for it,” said Maria Thomson, executive director of the GWDC. “I called them Parks and they said, ‘Oh, we made a mistake.’” A new evergreen tree will be planted in the area during the fall planting season, according to the Parks Department. As for the current tree, it will be transplanted somewhere close by. “It’s seems like a brand new young tree,” said Blenkinsopp. “We would love to see it grow, but somewhere else.”
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