Letter to an Enviromental Assassin

Feb 16, 2023 | The Sandpiper

To the man who rents next door: I have lived in my house in Bay Shore for 39 years. My house is 112 years old and the trees surrounding my neighborhood filled the sky with color and life. From my backyard, I didn’t even know I had neighbors – no inkling that there was a development behind me. Sadly, little by little the neighborhood changed to a people that are environmentally clueless. Many of the trees were cut down, leaving gaping holes in the sky. But, at least my southern neighbor loved his trees nearly as much as I loved mine – or at least he respected them and everything that lived in them. That is until you moved in. You were not in the neighborhood a month. I came home from work one day to see a tree cutting whore destroying the huge red oak in your front yard. We all know the type – doesn’t care for the health of the tree, the environment, permits or the land clearing ordinances. Just show him the cash. I believe Cheap Joe is the name. The sickening thud of beautiful live branches hitting the street below. Evidently you have no clue as to the damage you have done to the environment without cause. Did you know that an oak tree supports over 4000 different variety of insects and wildlife? Did you care that as winter was approaching, you just made a host of squirrels and birds homeless? Did you think about how you just changed the wind dynamics on our street? Did you consider the noise barrier that you just removed? Did you give a thought to how you just adversely affected my view?

Do you know that as the pollinators disappear, so does our food growing ability? Did you know that the little bats that live under the bark of those trees are pollinators? Did you know that topping an oak tree doesn’t make it a small tree -it kills it?

Signed, The tax payer next door!