Billy Crystal stumps for L’Beach trees

Actor Billy Crystal stood on the corner of Monroe Boulevard and East Chester Street in Long Beach, just a few blocks from where he grew up, and recalled playing ball as a boy along the Park Avenue malls that were once lined with sycamore trees.

“That’s where we learned how to play baseball, that’s where we learned how to play football, that’s where we sat under a tree and read a book,” said Crystal, who moved to California in 1976. “They’re all gone — all of these beautiful sycamores that have been here for almost 100 years are gone. The public areas need these trees. Kids need these trees in parks and public walkways.”

Crystal was referring to the thousands of trees that have been removed throughout his hometown in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Due to safety concerns, and because the trees were inundated with saltwater, the city has been cutting down trees — such as those along medians and sidewalks — throughout the city that were found to be dead or substantially damaged.

At a press conference on Monday, where they were joined by city officials, Crystal and Senator Charles Schumer called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to cover the cost of removing and replacing 2,500 damaged trees, an estimated $2.5 million.

In February, the City Council voted unanimously to hire the Brooklyn-based Dragonetti Brothers Nursery and Landscaping to remove the trees, and the work began in May. After the storm, arborists determined that more than 45 percent of the trees they inspected should be removed.

Jim LaCarrubba, the commissioner of public works, said that the removal process is about 95 percent complete.

“The destruction of the trees has been a significant loss for the city,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said.

In addition to restoring the aesthetics of once tree-lined streets, Schumer said, replacing the trees will help prevent soil erosion, improve air quality and mitigate future flooding.

For more, see this week’s Long Beach Herald