FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 19, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
Whitestone resident says invasive
street trees are destroying his home
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Since 2001, Carlo Colagiacomo has been
dealing with two massive trees that are
destroying his property on 162nd Street
in the Beechhurst section of Whitestone.
“Th ey’ve taken over my whole property,”
Group makes suggestions on how to improve
health in ‘food swamp’ areas of Queens
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Aft er deeming three Queens neighborhoods
“food swamps” earlier this year,
a health group is giving local shop owners
tips on how to make healthier food
options more accessible to people living
in the neighborhood.
Public Health Solutions, a health nonprofi
t serving New York City, recently
concluded that Jackson Heights, Corona
and Jamaica are food swamps, or areas
where unhealthy food outlets outnumber
healthy alternatives. Th ese neighborhoods
had only one supermarket for
every fi ve fast-food restaurants and six
corner stores, according to the organization.
Th is limited access to healthy food
choices impedes residents’ ability to
achieve optimal health, the group concluded.
To counteract these conditions, the
nonprofi t studied food stock at 139 corner
stores and bodegas in Jamaica, where
they discovered only 26 percent of businesses
displayed fresh fruits or vegetables
that were visible within fi ve seconds
of entering the store. In contrast, 76 percent
of stores had packaged snacks on
front display.
Th e group then conducted an “intervention”
at nine of these businesses, providing
them with signage, food preparation
equipment and education on how to
source healthier items.
Stores also aggregated their selection of
healthy food items, such as nuts, healthier
granola bars, water bottles and fruit,
and moved them toward the front of
the store in countertop, fl oor or fl at display
baskets near the place of purchase
or deli areas.
Aft er the study, more than half of the
stores reported increased fruit sales and
63 percent reported they now stock more
healthy foods. Th e “low-cost interventions”
implemented at the Jamaica locations
can be replicated in other communities
facing limited healthy food options,
the group determined.
“Aft er our fi rst report revealed a prevalence
of fast food restaurants and bodegas
in Queens neighborhoods, we knew
we needed to test interventions aimed
at shrinking the massive gap in access to
healthier foods,” said Lisa David, president
and CEO of Public Health Solutions.
“Th rough our work in underserved communities,
we’ve seen that increasing
access to more nutritious food options
for children can have immense impacts
on their development and reduce their
health risks as adults. It was encouraging
that our low-cost interventions made tangible
diff erences for community members
and corner store owners.”
Photo via Flickr/Elvis Batiz
Colagiacomo told QNS. “Th ey were
planted here years ago and since then, I’ve
been fi ghting off the roots from growing
new trees on my property.”
Th e trees, known as quaking aspens,
are sprouting hundreds of young trees
throughout Colagiacomo’s property.
Known for their shared root system, these
two trees in particular have roots sprouting
not just in Colagiacomo’s property,
but in his neighbor’s property as well.
“Th e roots grew into my neighbor’s
drain line and had to spend $15,000 to
replace it,” Colagiacomo said. “Th e roots
are growing in the cracks of my driveway,
my steps, the fl ower box, and it’s even in
the catch basin and lift ing up the concrete.
As long as the trees are alive, the
roots are dominating the property.”
Th e tree branches, Colagiacomo said,
has dented his roof and gutters, fallen on
his daughter’s car — breaking her windshield
— and pulled down a power line
once before. Colagiacomo’s son, Carlo,
knows that falling branches isn’t a unique
concern, however the roots are the real
problem with these trees.
“We’ve had to have the lawn dug up;
it’s like a forest,” the junior Carlo said.
“Th e roots have made their way into the
sewer system and are growing through
the pipe. Our neighbor, who recently had
to replace her pipes due to the damage the
roots caused, already has new roots growing
near the pipes.”
Colagiacomo has contacted the Parks
Department and Claire Shulman when
she served as Queens borough president
many years ago. In past years, he also
made a request for remedies through the
Trees & Sidewalks program.
According to the Parks Department,
the Trees & Sidewalks program sends
Forestry experts to locations at the request
of the homeowners. Th e properties are
then given a rating based on the severity
of damage and risk to public safety.
Th e trees were last inspected by the
Parks Department on March 2 of this
year. At that time, the Parks Department
told QNS, it was determined that the trees
would not be removed because they were
healthy, and the Parks Department does
not remove healthy trees.
Despite the amount of damage that
the tree roots have caused over the years,
Colagiacomo said that the city has done
nothing to get rid of these trees.
“It’s destroying my property, my
neighbor’s property and city property,”
Colagiacomo said. “Th e Parks
Department has been here many times.
I even off ered to plant new trees in their
place. I don’t see how the city can’t see
how this is invasive.”
One local lawmaker has taken notice
of Colagiacomo’s complaints. Aft er seeing
the damage caused by the roots,
state Senator Tony Avella went out to
Colagiacomo’s home on July 6 to call on
the city to remove the trees.
“When I fi rst came to this property a
month ago, I immediately knew this was
the worst case of tree roots invading private
property that I had ever seen,” Avella
said. “It really is the tree that took over the
neighborhood. It is bad enough that the
trees are invading his property but they
are even coming out of the catch basin
and the homeowner’s downspout. Th is is
an utter failure to provide basic city services
to those paying some of the highest
property taxes in the country.”
On Avella’s advice, Colagiacomo is letting
the trees grow out to show how much
damage the roots are doing to his property.
“Th e side of my house is a jungle,”
Colagiacomo said. “Th e last time I cut the
roots back was this past spring, and since
then my property has four to six foot trees
growing from the roots. I’d like to thank
Senator Avella because he’s really trying
to help. It seems like nobody cares.”
Photo courtesy of Carlo Colagiacomo
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