Dear Editor:
It’s municipal election time in Union City and Mayor Stack, a Democratic ally of Gov. Christie, is touting the trees planted during his administration. What Mayor Stack fails to mention to voters is that during the recent New York Avenue tree planting, live, healthy trees were cut down. Those, besides living trees near houses, included a line of beautiful Locust trees in front of the Armenian Church on New York Avenue, and bordering Ellsworth Park. Trees near Pino’s Hardware which had been painted white on their lower trunks, were also cut down. I have asked Mayor Stack if he devises one, to refrain from executing any decision to destroy the few remaining trees on 2nd Street between Palisade and New York Avenues. This street will be redone and if new trees are planted, I do not want to see 2 healthy trees cut down (except 3 badly “butchered” sycamores—to clear branches of utility wires—near the Washington Park Soccer Field).
New tree planting will enhance property values and that is a definite value to our community. However, when Mayor Stack, consents to healthy whole tree destruction as part of his tree planting, his professed love of trees becomes suspect, in my opinion. In my view, Mayor Stack is accountable for both the trees he approves for planting and those he approves for heedless, needless destruction.
A happy naturalist,
Tony Squire