This was in today's paper. The first picture was front-and-center on page A-1 (I included The Record's logo), the article was on pages L-1 and L-6, and the second picture was on L-6 (click pix to enlarge):
Last stand for Teaneck's historic red oak
Monday, June 10, 2013 Last updated: Tuesday June 11, 2013, 2:29 PM
BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
STAFF WRITER
The Record
TEANECK – The stately red oak on Cedar Lane, once registered as the fourth largest in the state and which attracted a legion of devoted admirers over the years, was cut down on Monday.
It was between 250 and 300 years old.
Tree cutters from Hawthorne-based Downes Tree Service spent hours in driving rain, dismantling the tree, limb by limb, finally finishing the task around 5 p.m.
Three years ago, a township-hired arborist concluded that the tree could live for several more decades. But by the end of the day Monday, a moss-covered stump of nearly 3 feet tall was all that remained on the gassy knoll on Cedar Lane where the oak once stood.
Bergen County, which was responsible for taking care of the tree, decided after several reviews in the last few months, that the tree was suffering from decay and termite damage and posed a risk to pedestrians and motorists who travel busy Cedar Lane and Palisade Avenue, near the township’s downtown.
When the final piece of the trunk was removed — a portion that weighed 20,000 pounds — it appeared to vindicate the county’s concerns: The log contained a hollow wide enough to fit one of the tree cutters.
“We both have great regret to know that that beautiful tree would no longer be part of our community,” said Gladys Miller-Rosenstein, executive director of The Puffin Foundation, one of the tree’s champions.
“I know the foundation tried its hardest to find a way that we could save the tree. The only thing we were able to do was to work on the cloning to give us something for the future,” she added, referring to the efforts to preserve the tree’s lineage.
Miller-Rosenstein said she and husband, Perry, the foundation’s president, were too distraught on Monday to visit the site.
“We didn’t have the heart to go there,” she said.
But many residents braved the foul weather to watch the last stand of a tree, widely admired for its canopy and described over the years as “fabulous,” “majestic,” “a gift,” “a beautiful specimen,” and a “living witness to history.”
“It’s only fitting that this is a very cloudy, overcast day,” said resident Marty Singer, who was taking pictures. “Nature is crying because we are taking down one of its gems.”
The oak’s age and its prominent location on the site of the former Samuel Campbell farmhouse, which once stretched from the Hackensack River to the Hudson River, are among the reasons why residents have fought hard over the years to save it from the ax.
When it was awarded a historic designation earlier this year — an honor not normally bestowed on plants — the Township Council noted that “the tree was standing before the birth of our nation and before George Washington’s retreat over the Hackensack River at Historic New Bridge Landing.”
Eugene Coleman, chairman of the historic preservation commission and a longtime admirer, said:
“It’s such a loss,” he said. “It’s a hole in the landscape.”
Measured in 2010, the oak was found to be 80 to 85 feet tall, close to 200 feet wide. The trunk was listed as 70 inches in diameter and 18½ feet in circumference.
Both foreseeable and unforeseeable events led to its eventual demise.
A road widening project on Cedar Lane nearly two decades ago, claimed 40 percent of its root system. A five-year-old lightning strike severely scarred the tree’s trunk, but because it was not attended to properly, water settled in the voids, causing the tree to rot.
After last year’s Superstorm Sandy, the county took an inventory of its trees, examining the Teaneck oak among them. A series of studies led certified tree experts to the conclusion that the tree posed a threat to pedestrians and motorists and should be cut down.
“It’s not a health issue,” William Comery, the consultant who authored the report repeated on Monday. “It’s a risk issue.”
The news was greeted with disbelief by those that had fought so hard to save the tree over the years, including Democratic Teaneck Sen. Loretta Weinberg, whose husband, Irwin, led a group of residents nearly three decades ago to save it from a developer.
The Puffin Foundation in 2010 gave the county $100,000 donation to take care of the tree in perpetuity. Perry Rosenstein said Monday that the foundation also gave $200,000 to Congregation Netivoh Shalom, the synagogue which owns the property where the tree was located.
Dave King, a climber with Downes who manned a white bucket truck, cranked his chainsaw chain shortly after 9:20 a.m. to cut the first branch of the day, one hanging over Cedar Lane.
From there, the nine men worked almost non-stop, with those on the street collecting the fallen branches and feeding them into the wood chipper.
“We don’t get any pleasure from taking down a historic tree like this,” said Anthony Stellatos, one of the foremen on the site. “They called on us to take it down because we are equipped to do so.”
Weinberg, whose family has a special connection to the tree, lamented the loss.
“It’s been wonderful that so many folks were involved in keeping the tree going as long as possible, and then trying to find ways to propagate it, she said, expressing her gratitude to the synagogue and The Puffin Foundation “for all they have done to love a grand old tree — a living witness to history.”
Email: superville@northjersey.com
