Mayor Asks For Cuomo’s Help After Metro-North 'Clear Cuts' Trees

MAMARONECK, NY — A Hudson Valley community is complaining that clear cutting of trees by Metro-North Railroad has created an eyesore and is harming the quality of life, home values and the health of neighbors.

Mamaroneck Mayor Tom Murphy is going all the way to the top with constituents' concerns over the "wanton destruction" of "noble trees." On Friday, the elected official shared a letter he wrote to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Murphy has also previously voiced his support for a petition calling on Cuomo to at least partially restore the forestation removed by the MTA.

According to Murphy’s letter to Cuomo dated June 18, the MTA had told residents that trees near the track would be pruned as part of ongoing track work. Instead, Murphy wrote trees in neighborhood backyards were removed entirely and replaced with gravel.

This has not only created an eyesore but has led to increased noise from the tracks, neighbors said.

“These are residents of modest means whose home is their primary possession,” Murphy wrote. “They are no longer comfortable letting their young children play in their yards because of the actions of the railroad. These actions also included the dumping of debris from railroad work on their property lines.”

At a June 4, gathering, neighbors brought their concerns to the attention of the mayor. The discussion was broadcast on Larchmont-Mamaroneck Community Television (LMC Media). Dozens of homeowners along the stretch of the New Haven Line track from Rockland Avenue to Weaver Street aired worries about pollution, property values and privacy.

“If [MTA] are going to cut down trees because they have power problems, then they should do it in a much more competent and thoughtful way,” one affected community member complained. “They’re our neighbors, whether they like it or not.”

In a change.org petition, community members are demanding that the railroad “remove the possibly toxic gravel that has been dumped and to install a sound barrier fence along with some plants and shrubs on the side of tracks that has now directly exposed property owners to the train.”

For its part, the MTA has previously described the tree cutting that is part of track undercutting and catenary wire protection work as “necessary.”

While admitting that much of the damage done can not be undone, Murphy is asking that state and MTA officials take measures to help mitigate the pain caused to the neighborhoods.

“We are asking that fences be erected to mitigate the damage in some areas and in other areas where the fauna has been eradicated new plantings be provided,” Murphy told the governor. “Please take the time to read the petition that my residents have put together and respond to their reasonable and just requests for help.”