Residents demand a permanent end to Nassau tree cutting project in Oyster Bay

An angry and boisterous group of Hicksville residents and supporters told Nassau officials Thursday night they need to find a way to fix a stretch of sidewalk on South Oyster Bay Road without chopping down any more trees.

"I want them to stop," said Edie Ammerata, 60, a retired schoolteacher and Hicksville resident, referring to the county's plan to chop down 200 trees as part of the sidewalk repair project. The trees "filter all that pollution out of the air."

The issue was the only topic at last night's meeting of the Hicksville Community Council. It came a day after a state appellate judge in Brooklyn issued a temporary restraining order barring Nassau from chopping down any more trees.

That order followed an October ruling by a state Supreme Court judge in Mineola lifting an earlier temporary ban by another judge on cutting down the trees. Plaintiffs had argued that the county needed to go through a state environmental review process before removing the trees.

Richard Brummel, a Long Island environmental activist, told several Nassau officials at the meeting Thursday night that "you need to follow the law."

Appellate Judge William Mastro in Brooklyn on Wednesday granted the latest restraining order after Plainview resident Yushen Su brought the appeal as an intervenor on behalf of the original plaintiffs against the tree cutting, a grassroots group called Operation STOMP.

Nassau officials have said they would plant new trees to replace those removed.

Su, 50, a real estate agent, said Thursday that new trees wouldn't be a good replacement for old-growth trees. Many of the trees form a canopy across the road. "I can't imagine South Oyster Bay Road without the trees," he said.

Nassau Department of Public Works spokesman Mike Martino, who was at the meeting, said he could not say much about the issue because of the court case. He did say that more than 100 trees have been cut down. Earlier Thursday, Martino said sidewalks have been uprooted by the trees, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"The courts already ruled that Nassau County acted properly, and complied with environmental regulations when undertaking the project," Martino said in a statement. " . . . the county will plant more trees than ever before along South Oyster Bay Road and work with homeowners to plant additional trees on private property."