Mandatory Evacuation Issued for NYC Coastal Areas

NYC Hurricane Evacuation Zone layer for Google Earth

Google Earth users can download the data files for New York City's Hurricane Evacuation Zones. The Hurricane Evacuation Zones are based on storm surge models created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This file can be used to display where facilities and assets are located in relation to NYC's Hurricane Evacuation zones.

Download NYC Hurricane Evacuation Zone layers for Google Earth

With Storm Near, 370,000 in City Get Evacuation Order

New York Times - August 26, 2011 - By James Barron

Mandatory Evacuation Issued for NYC Coastal Areas Due to the approach of Hurricane Irene, the City has issued amandatory evacuation order for New Yorkers who live in the low-lying Zone “A” coastal areas in all five boroughs. This includes all parts of the Rockaways due to its exposure to the ocean. People should be out of these areas by 5PM on Saturday. Residents who live in Zone A are strongly encouraged to stay with friends or family outside an evacuation zone. Evacuation Centers will be open Friday at 4 PM for residents who have no alternative shelter. MTA service including subways, buses, and railroads will begin to shut down at noon tomorrow, so please prepare to evacuate immediately. *Use the HURRICANE EVACUATION ZONE FINDER to find out if you live in a hurricane evacuation zone *Due to unusually high traffic this site may be slow. Please be patient or download a map of the NYC hurricane evacuation zones (PDF) * PLEASE NOTE: Evacuation Center Changes The Evacuation Center marked on the NYC hurricane evacuation zone map as Aqueduct Racetrack, Rockaway Blvd. and 108th Street, Queens, is being replaced by John Adams High School, 101-01 Rockaway Blvd., Ozone Park, 11417. The Evacuation Center marked on the NYC hurricane evacuation zone map as Christ the King H.S. has been moved to Grover Cleveland H.S. Check the zone finder or call 311 for updated information. The Evacuation Center at JHS 57, 125 Stuyvesant Avenue, Brooklyn, is being closed. The center will be moved to PS26, 1010 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn. The Evacuation Center marked in the NYC hurricane evacuation zone map as HS of Graphic Communication Arts, 439 West 49 St., Manhattan, is being replaced byPark West High School, 525 West 50 St., Manhattan. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for NYC. Make sure youremergency supply kits and Go Bags are ready to go with supplies like water, non-perishable food, a first aid kit, flashlights, a battery-operated radio, and extra batteries. Learn more about hurricanes and NYC Download Ready New York: Hurricanes and New York City

	News and Announcements Read the latest press release (at NYC.gov) The MTA Bus and Subway system will begin an orderly system shut down at noon, Saturday, August 27. MTA urges customers to check www.mta.info frequently and to consider the impacts of this storm when making travel plans throughout the weekend.Depending on the effect of the storm, MTA service may or may not be restored in time for rush hour Monday morning. Check with your employers regarding business openings on Monday. Beginning at noon on Saturday, August 27, JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia Airports will close for arriving domestic and international flights. These airports will remain open for departing flights pending further updates. Please check with your carrier before departing. Commuter ferry services operated by the Economic Development Corporation will stop after Friday’s rush hour. All New York City beaches are closed as of 6 PM on Friday, August 26. NYC Parks' recreation centers and outdoor swimming pools will be closed Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28, and will remain closed until further notice. Marinas run by the Parks Department will be closed starting 6 PM Saturday, and all customers will be required to leave. For more information on specific events and parks, visit the Park's Department website. All work at construction sites in New York City is suspended as of 2 PM Saturday, August 27, to 7 AM Monday, August 29. All CUNY campuses and offices will be closed on Saturday, August 27, and Sunday August 28. For more information, please check the individual campus websites or cuny.edu. City permits are being revoked for street fairs, block parties, and similar events on Sunday, and in Zone A – low-lying areas – on Saturday as well. Similar restrictions are being placed on outdoor TV and film permits. Due to the weather advisories for this weekend, please call to make sure Workforce1 Career Center or NYC Business Solutions Centers are open before visiting on Monday, August 29. Updates on big events in and around NYC The Dave Matthews concert on Governors Island that was scheduled for Friday night will go ahead, but the concert scheduled for Saturday and Sunday nights are cancelled. The Mets games for Saturday and Sunday have been cancelled. Fans going to the Jets-Giants game Saturday over in New Jersey should know that MTA service will likely not be available to them. If they can get back to New York City, they won’t be able to get around because the buses and subways will not be running. Taxis, livery cabs, and commuter vans will adopt a zone fare system Saturday morning at 9 AM. For details, read the TLC press release. http://prtl-prd-web.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/nycsevereweather/weather_home.shtml

Parks Department Hurricane Warning - Beaches, Pools, Rec. Centers Closed

Important Parks Department Service Changes Due to Hurricane Irene

In preparation for Hurricane Irene, the Parks Department will close all beaches at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 26, 2011. NYC Parks' recreation centers and outdoor swimming pools will close on Saturday, August 27, 2011. These facilities are closed until further notice. For more information about the hurricane and ways to be prepared, please visit www.nyc.gov/severeweather.

We urge people to stay out of parks and off sidewalks, in the event of falling trees or branches. To report downed trees or branches, please call 311. In case of emergency, please call 911.

http://www.nycgovparks.org/stormupdate/

The following facilities are closed or will be partially closed as of Saturday, August 27. This information will be updated as it is available:

• All City beaches close at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 26.
• All Parks recreation centers will be closed on Saturday, August 27.
• All City swimming pools will be closed on Saturday, August 27.
• All nature centers in parks will be closed effective Saturday, August 27.
• Greenmarkets citywide will be closed all weekend.
• Liberty Island and Ellis Island will be closed on Saturday, August 27.
• Central Park, Prospect and Flushing Meadows Corona Park Zoos will be closed on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28.

The following events are cancelled this weekend:

• All Urban Park Ranger public and private programs beginning 6 p.m. on Friday, August 26, until further notice.
  • The Alley Pond Park Adventure Course
  • Public Explorer programs scheduled for Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28. They will not be rescheduled.
• Arthur Ashe Kids Day, Saturday, August 27.
• New York Mets home games are cancelled on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28.
• All practice sessions for the U.S. Open, Sunday, August 28.
• Brooklyn Cyclones home game on Sunday, August 28.
• The Afro Punk Festival in Brooklyn.

National Labor Relations Board Stepping In Boathouse Restaurant Fight

Employees of the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park are striking over union recognition. The National Labor Relations Board is expected to issue a complaint accusing the restaurant of firing some workers for supporting the union. (Photo: Ty Cacek/The New York Times)

Manhattan

The strike at the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park has lasted more than two weeks, with 60 waiters, cooks and dishwashers picketing, chanting and drumming outside day after day. But now the strikers are getting some long-awaited outside support, according to the New York Times.

he National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees union matters, plans to issue a far-reaching legal complaint against the restaurant, federal officials and union leaders say. The complaint would accuse the Boathouse of illegally threatening and questioning workers, as well as firing and otherwise punishing more than 15 workers for supporting the union.

The labor board has also said, according to these officials, that it plans to seek an unusual judicial order to require the Boathouse to enter contract negotiations with the union, even though no election has been held to determine whether the restaurant’s 140 workers want to unionize.

The labor board seeks such orders only in the rare instances when it concludes that an employer’s illegal actions are so widespread and egregious that they would prevent a fair unionization vote from being held.

Peter Ward, president of the New York Hotel Trades Council, the union that many of the Boathouse workers have been seeking to join, said: “The labor board is saying to the restaurant’s owner and his agents that you, through fear, intimidation, firings, surveillance and threats, have destroyed the laboratory conditions necessary for a fair and clean election. And your behavior has been so bad we can’t ever re-establish those conditions.”

Robert Barletta, a spokesman for the Boathouse, said, “We deny all the allegations.” He declined to comment on the board’s plan to seek an order requiring the Boathouse’s owner to negotiate with the union.

Officials of the Boathouse, the union and the labor board all acknowledged that representatives from the restaurant, which is open despite the strike, will meet with the board’s deputy general counsel next Tuesday to discuss the planned complaint, which the restaurant may head off by offering enough concessions to settle the charges.

But Dan Silverman, a lawyer for the union and the former director of the labor board’s regional office in Manhattan, said: “This is not going to settle unless the Boathouse agrees to negotiate a contract with the union. Reinstating the fired workers isn’t going to be enough.”

Mr. Ward said more than 70 percent of the restaurant’s workers signed cards last winter saying they wanted to join his union. He said the union gave those cards to the labor board in January to request a unionization election, but none has been conducted because of litigation and because the board concluded that conditions were not right for an election.

Mr. Barletta, the Boathouse spokesman, said on Thursday that 70 percent of the restaurant’s current employees — excluding those on strike and those fired — recently signed a petition saying they did not want to unionize. He said that petition had been sent to the labor board and Mr. Ward.

John Turchiano, a union spokesman, said managers might have pressured workers to sign that petition. “Given their history, it’s pretty clear how they ended up getting those signatures,” he said.

After the workers walked out at lunchtime on Aug. 9, the restaurant issued a statement saying the union had organized “one publicity stunt after another” and was using “yet another vindictive tactic” against the Boathouse’s owner, Dean J. Poll.

The dispute has become intertwined with the union’s battle with Mr. Poll over a license he won to run Tavern on the Green, also in Central Park. Mr. Poll never reopened Tavern after he was unable to reach a contract with Mr. Ward’s union, which represented the 400 Tavern workers under the previous licensee, Warner LeRoy.

Christopher Skaggs, a waiter at the Boathouse for five years, said, “For them to say we’re out here on strike as a vendetta because of what went on at Tavern is pretty insulting to us. We’re out here to fight for a better work environment. We shouldn’t have to work in a place where we’re mistreated.”

Numerous workers complained of low wages and of not receiving health coverage.

Marie Agniel, another waiter, complained of a capricious management style. “I’ve worked here for six years, and every day I walk in and I don’t know whether I’m going to be fired,” she said

Ms. Agniel is one of six workers who have filed sexual harassment complaints. Mr. Barletta said the Boathouse “denies all the allegations about harassment.”

Read More:

Labor Board to Reproach Restaurant in Park

New York Times - August 25, 2011 - By Steven Greenhouse

Sign of the Times. Union illustration Depicting Dean Poll.

Pressure mounted Friday on restaurateur Dean Poll to resolve a bitter, longstanding dispute with the hotel workers union after the National Labor Relations Board decided to authorize a wide-ranging complaint accusing the Central Park Boathouse of serious labor violations, according to Crain's New York Business.

The labor board chose to authorize the complaint, which will allege that Boathouse management threatened and fired workers—creating an atmosphere that makes a fair union election impossible—but it is holding off on issuing the complaint because the Boathouse asked for reconsideration of the decision, said David Leach, acting regional attorney at the board.

The violations were so egregious, according to Mr. Leach, that the board is seeking an unusual order that would compel the Boathouse to bargain with the Hotel and Motel Trades Council even without an election.

“Dean Poll's contract with the city requires him to follow all city, state, and federal laws–and the National Labor Relations Board is saying pretty clearly he is not," said Josh Gold, political director for the union. "The work environment at the Boathouse has become so toxic and the violations are so pervasive that extraordinary measures are now needed to protect basic worker rights.”

Boathouse attorneys are scheduled to present their case to board officials in Washington on Wednesday. News of the NLRB's move was first reported Friday in The New York Times.

“Any recommendation by the board would not be wholly informed, because the Boathouse had not yet been afforded its right to address key board officials in Washington to refute the allegations made by the union,” a spokesman for Mr. Poll said. “This meeting is the opportunity for the Boathouse to present its case, and no decision will be rendered until those facts have been considered.”

But before then, Boathouse officials will engage in settlement talks Monday and Tuesday with the union in the hope of bringing to an end a fight that began at Tavern on the Green and that has dragged on since 2009, sources said.

The decision to authorize a complaint greatly increases the union's leverage, as pressure will mount on the city to step in if Mr. Poll does not settle. Workers at the Boathouse went on strike earlier this month to protest against the Boathouse's actions, and the union has engaged in an extensive publicity campaign aimed at convincing the city to cancel Mr. Poll's contract.

All along, city officials have said it would be improper to make any moves until the charges have been fully adjudicated, but now with the NLRB prepared to act, it's going to feel pressure to change its stance.

Already, Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito issued a strongly-worded statement saying that the “Parks Department can no longer remain silent in this matter.” Ms. Mark-Viverito, who chairs the council's Parks & Recreation Committee, said that if Mr. Poll does not settle with the NLRB, “the city should immediately terminate his contract.” She added that officials “cannot sit idly by and continue to allow an employer operating on city-owned land to willingly and willfully violate workers' rights.”

A Parks Department spokeswoman referred to an earlier statement that “the city is not party to this disagreement.” She said Mr. Poll has met all his obligations to the city. But at a March City Council hearing, First Deputy Parks Commissioner Liam Kavanagh told Ms. Mark-Viverito that “all concessionaries are required to conform with all federal and state laws, including federal and state labor laws,” according to a transcript.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to a July letter by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer saying it would “be imprudent and premature” to act until the legal process runs its course.

Back at Tavern on the Green, at the outset of the battle, the two sides engaged in a contentious tug-of-war over a contract for 400 workers. Their inability to reach an agreement ultimately resulted in the closure of the well-known restaurant at the start of 2010. As a way to exert pressure during the Tavern talks, the union began organizing workers at the Boathouse. While the campaign started as a negotiating tactic, it became a high priority for the union when workers were allegedly dismissed for backing the effort.

Ironically, settlement talks at the Boathouse could end up giving new life to Tavern on the Green. It's possible the union could try to insert Tavern into the talks, sources said, bringing the dispute full circle.

Read More:

Tide goes out for Boathouse operator

National Labor Relations Board decides to authorize a wide-ranging complaint accusing manager of famed Central Park eatery of serious violations; Tavern redux possible.

Crain's New York Business - August 26, 2011 - By Daniel Massey

Surprise Walkout At Dean Poll's Central Park Boathouse

A Walk In The Park - August 9, 2011

DA To Drop Union Square Park Murder Charges - Killer Still at Large

A homeless man was severely beaten with a heavy bike lock and chain at 1:20 a.m. Friday morning July 8th. The incident started when suspects surrounded the victim as he slept on a bench in a Union Square Park triangle, near 15th St. Witnesses pointed out Keenan Bryce a few hours after the incident. However recently discovered surveillance video from a bus stop places him in N. J. 30 miles away at the time of the murder. The DA will drop the charges against Mr. Bryce according to a report. (Photo: Marcus Santos for the NY Daily News)

Manhattan

In a few days, Manhattan prosecutors will appear before another judge in a murder case that did not attract DSK-like attention. They will recommend charges be dismissed against Keenan Bryce, a 29-year-old man who lives on the streets, DNAinfo has learned.

On July 8, Bryce was arrested outside Union Square Park after eyewitnesses pointed him out as the person who had beaten 53-year-old Stanley Novak to death with a heavy bike lock and chain a few hours earlier.

Until recently, the murder case was a sure thing.

At the scene, witnesses pointed Bryce out to cops a few hours after the 1:30 a.m. assault, sources told On the Inside. Later in the day, two of them pointed him out again in a police lineup: A distinctive looking man who stands 6-feet-2, has braided hair and was wearing little more than overalls without a shirt.

At his arraignment, Bryce railed in court like the troubled person he is. He even yelled and screamed at Howard Jaffe, the lawyer appointed to represent him. Jaffe recalled that he made little sense of much of what Bryce said that day. Except for one thing.

"I was in New Jersey," Jaffe recalled Bryce telling him. "He was really yelling and screaming and refusing to talk to me, except to say he was in New Jersey."


It was hardly something to alter the entire direction of a case.

Even the sister of the victim, Madeline Novak, was told Bryce was definitely her brother’s killer. She went on Facebook calling for Bryce to never be free.

On July 8, Keenan Bryce was arrested outside Union Square Park after eyewitnesses pointed him out as the person who had beaten 53-year-old Stanley Novak to death with a heavy bike lock and chain a few hours earlier. (Photo: Keenan Bryce (NYPD)

"Justice will not bring my brother back, but I don’t ever want to see this animal Keenan Bryce ever walk the streets," she wrote on Facebook. "I want him in jail for the rest of his life, never to walk with freedom...just like my broken heart will never heal and my life will never be the same EVER!"

But the day after Bryce was sent to Bellevue, Jaffe received a call from Bryce’s brother, Robert Bryce, who works on Wall Street and lives in Sayreville, N.J., about an hour bus ride from Manhattan.

Robert Bryce said his brother frequently hung out near his home. And just an hour before the murder, Robert Bryce said he had spoken twice on his cellphone with his brother around midnight on July 7. Keenan said he was about to take a bus to Manhattan.

Jaffe told Robert Bryce to get his cell phone records to show that his brother was in New Jersey making and receiving calls.

The following day, Robert Bryce set out for a bus stop in Sayreville along Route 4 where he found a bus driver who vividly recalled his brother because Keenan Bryce, wearing overalls and no shirt, tried to board the bus, but only had $3 (the fare can cost more than $12). The driver remembered letting the wild-looking Bryce on the bus without forcing him to pay the full fare.

That happened at 1:30 a.m. — ten minutes after the murder took place more than 30 miles away.

Bryce notified Jaffe, who immediately reached out to NJ Transit. Using the Freedom of Information Law, Jaffe requested video from four surveillance cameras shooting the bus stop and a nearby "Park and Ride" lot.

Discs containing the surveillance footage arrived in a brown envelope at the law office of Gotlin & Jaffe on Aug. 8. The lawyers quickly slid the discs into their computers. Suddenly they spotted Keenan Bryce outside the bus pulling out his wallet that had only $3 in it.

Jaffe quickly brought the tapes down to the Manhattan DA’s office, where they were reviewed. If that were not enough, Robert Bryce also learned that their father in Virginia had wired $40 to Keenan Bryce at a Times Square Western Union office.

According to Jaffe, after Keenan Davis picked up the cash at 3 a.m., he then wended his way on foot to Union Square Park, where at about 7 a.m. he walked by cops near a crime scene.

Read More:

Murder Charges to be Dropped Against Man in Union Square Attack

DNAinfo - August 25, 2011 - By Murray Weiss

Union Square Beating Victim Dies - 6th Murder On Parkland In Few Months

A Walk In The Park - July 9, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Woman Raped In Raymond Bush Playground

Brooklyn

An assailant forced himself onto a 24-year-old woman in Raymond Bush Playground on Monroe and Throop Ave, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The alleged incident occurred on Aug. 20, within the confines of the 90 Pct.

According to the paper, the victim was near Whipple Street at 3 pm when a bald man wearing black work boots, blue shorts and a white tank top attacked her, telling her, “If you tell the cops, I’m gonna kill you.”

Then he allegedly pushed her to the ground, raped her and ran away.

The suspect remains at large, but the victim told police that she knows who he is. - Geoffrey Croft

Read More:

Rapes quadruple in Williamsburg

The Brooklyn Paper - August 25, 2011 - By Aaron Short

3 Arrested For Trespassing In Hudson River Park

Manhattan

Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) arrested 3 males for criminal trespass in Hudson River Park (West 43rd St & 12 Ave) early Wednesday, morning August 23rd. The incident occurred at 2:26 A.M.

Henry Edmond - age 75 - was arrested and issued a Criminal Court summons for trespassing according to police. Mr. Edmond had 4 warrants (open container) and was processed according to a law enforcement source.

Two males (ages 63 & 55) were also a issued Criminal Court summonses for trespassing and released. NYPD also transported a 55 year old female to a women's shelter. - Geoffrey Croft

56 Gang Members Arrested In Amersfort Park - Gun Recovered

Brooklyn

Dozens of suspected gang members were arrested in a Brooklyn park by an army of cops after several of the thugs went viral to spread word of a meeting, the Daily News has learned.

A group of reputed Crips members used Twitter and other social networking sites to arrange what they called a "Crips Holiday" at Amersfort Park in East Flatbush on Wednesday, said a police source.

Acting on a tip, cops from the NYPD's Gang Unit, along with officers from the 63rd Precinct, the borough task force and the Emergency Service Unit, arrived at the park near Avenue J and E. 38th St. about 7:30 p.m., police said.

They ordered the crowd, who were mostly dressed in the distinct blue colors of the gang, to disperse from the park. When they refused, cops moved in and rounded up 56 of the gang-bangers, a police source said.

A 9-mm. Taurus pistol was later recovered inside the park, cops said.

"We don't know exactly what their intentions were," said one law enforcement source with knowledge of the arrests. "But a gun was recovered. The potential for danger was there."

As first reported by The News this month, the NYPD recently established a new Juvenile Justice Unit, which monitors social media websites for gang activity.

It's not clear if that unit had a role in the recent arrests.

Read More:

Gang members busted after using Twitter, other social networking sites to arrange 'Crips Holiday'

New York Daily News - August 25, 2011 - By John Doyle

NYPD Arrest 16 In Owls Head Park For Gang Related Activity

A Walk In The Park - February 26, 2011

Police In Brooklyn Step Up Patrols At Owls Head & Leif Ericson Park

A Walk In The Park - June 23, 2010

City Finally Looking Into Cause Of Multiple Tree Deaths In Washington Sq. Park

Dying Tree - Washington Sq. North. Thanks to the Washington Square Park Blog who has written extensively about the issue, the city has finally agreed to look into the cause of multiple trees that have died since the park's controversial renovation. The park was redesigned by unlicensed Parks Department landscape architect - and real estate agent - George Vellonakis. Mr. Vellonakis has since gotten his landscape license. (Photos By Cathryn Swan)

Manhattan

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Trees in Washington Square Park have been mysteriously dying ever since the famed greenspace was redesigned — and some nature lovers are trying to get to the bottom of the problem, according to DNAinfo.

Eight trees have died in Washington Square Park since May 2009 — all Zelkovas, a type of elm — near the park's fountain, a Parks Department official said Tuesday. Four have already been removed and four others have been identified as dead or dying.

"We have experienced a series of failed plantings for the Zelkova trees in the area around Washington Square Park’s plaza," a Parks spokesman said. "We are investigating potential causes of why trees are not surviving here and will conduct soil tests, examine the drainage and determine if there is a problem with this particular species."

Reconstruction of the park's fountain and plaza began in December 2007 and concluded in May 2009, according to the agency.

Northern end of the park. "With all the talk about “MillionTreesNYC” in our city, as one blogger on the Washington Square Park Blog wrote, it’s really “OneMillionDeadTrees”. Another p.r. ruse put forth by our Mayor — the plan lacks any built-in initiative to maintain the “million” trees planted on neighborhood streets."

The redesign of Washington Square Park began in 2007 and eliminated dozens of trees more than 40 years old. A lawsuit was unsuccessful in preventing this destruction.

The trees that died were planted during the rehab efforts, which moved the fountain about 20 feet to the east so that it would align with the arch. Dozens of older trees were removed in the process.

One expert, Bronx-based arborist Ralph Padilla, 50, said he thought the Zelkova trees — which a Parks Department official said have a history of success in the city — had been planted incorrectly.

"It seems pretty obvious that this is an instance of a tree being planted too deeply," he said after looking at photographs. "Even though tree roots are underground, they need oxygen to survive. If they're too low into the ground, they will suffocate."

Padilla, who has cared for city trees for more than 20 years, said the Zelkova trees in the park that are already dying don't have much of a chance of survival.

"If the canopy is green, it has a good chance. But if the leaves are all wilted, there's no coming back. It's too far gone," he said.

Four trees that have been removed were replaced for free by the contractor who planted them, according to a Parks Department official. The other four trees need to be replaced by the city for approximately $1,500 each.

Cathryn Swan, who has tracked the park's trees on Washington Square Park Blog for more than three years, said multiple experts have told her the trees are dying because of inadequate drainage or having been planted too deep.

Swan, a Brooklyn resident who started her blog when she heard that the park's redesign would chop down trees more than 40 years old, said she thinks political issues are the real problem in the park, though.

"Every business and city agency has its own level of politics, and this problem is due to internal politics," she said. "People don't want to upset the designer, and so they're not speaking out."

Longtime architect and real estate agent George Vellonakis, who oversaw the park's redesign, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Washington Square Park tree battle has deep roots. A group called the Emergency Coalition to Save Washington Square Park lost a 2007 lawsuit to stop the extensive reconstruction plans that resulted in the cutting down of about 32 trees.

August 16, 2011. The eighth tree around the fountain in two years that is now dying according to Washington Square Park Blog.

Read More:

City Getting to Root of Washington Square Park Tree Deaths

DNAinfo - August 25, 2011 - By Andrea Swalec

How to Prevent Additional Trees at Washington Square Park from Dying? — Questions Abound

Washington Square Park Blog - August 23, 2011 - By Cathryn Swan

How Many Trees Around the Washington Square Fountain Must Die Before Suffocating Design is Corrected?

Washington Square Park Blog - August 18, 2011 - By Cathryn Swan

Eighth Tree In Two Years Now Dying Around the Fountain

Washington Square Park Blog - August 17, 2011 - By Cathryn Swan

Part I: Why Do the Newly Planted Trees Around the Washington Square Fountain Keep Dying?

Washington Square Park Blog - July 11, 2011 - By Cathryn Swan

Part II – Arborcidal Design For Fountain Trees at Washington Square. Will City’s Parks Department Address This At Last?

Washington Square Park Blog - July 15, 2011 - By Cathryn Swan

Two of Seven Newly Planted Trees Surrounding the Washington Square Park Fountain Have Died — Is the Cause the Design?

Washington Square Park Blog - December 10th, 2009 - By Cathryn Swan