Council Member Andy King Passes Storm Damaged Trees Legislation

Council Member Andy King Bill Expediting the Removal of Downed Trees Damaged By Storms Passes City Council

Andy_KingCITY HALL – City Council Member Andy King (12th District/Bronx) applauded the NYC Council’s passage of Int. No. 74-A last week, which creates an expedited process for removing trees damaged by severe weather.

Council Member King’s legislation requires increased communication between city agencies and utilities and limits the amount of time affected communities will be without power.

“The purpose of Int. No. 74-A is to bring about a more accountable – common sense approach between our city agencies and local utilities in cases where downed or damaged trees on city property must be removed. Had this tree protocol removal been in place during the time of Hurricane Sandy, or any other severe weather condition that left numerous downed trees, which caused thousands of New Yorkers to lose power, the removal process would have been much simpler and swifter,” explained Council Member King.

In addition, the New York City of Parks and Recreation will post on its website after a severe storm the instructions on how residents can notify the city of downed or damaged trees or downed power lines.

“Communications is everything! This piece of legislation helps our agencies, utilities and residents communicate better,” said Council Member King. King thanked Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and his colleague Council Member Mark Levine, chair of the Committee on Parks and Recreation, for their leadership in pushing forward his legislation,

Int. No. 74-A awaits action by Mayor de Blasio and will take effect 90 days after the mayor signs it into law.

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