Long Island woman who chained herself to tree heading to court in continued fight to save 80-foot oak
WESTBURY, N.Y. -- A Long Island woman who chained herself to a tree to save it from being torn down is not giving up
The Village of Westbury gave her a deadline of Friday to make a decision. Now, as CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reports, that deadline has passed and the woman is headed to court.
Denise Casares is no longer chained to the 80-foot oak tree but is firmly rooted in her decision to fight, rejecting an offer to replace it with three small trees.
"It's never going to match the beauty of this size and just the amazingness of this tree," she said.
A Friday deadline has come and gone. The Village of Westbury offered a choice -- removal or she can pay nearly $5,000 for drainage work and accept full liability should it fall and hurt someone.
"I don't know if in 80 years, you're going to make my descendants responsible for what happens to this tree and that's not fair," Casares said.
The Westbury mom was chained for the better part of a week to a tree that's stood in front of her family home for four generations.
"It means something to me. I don't want to lose something else that has been part of my family the entire lifetime that my family has been here, and I feel like there is just a total disregard," Casares said Monday.
The Ellison Avenue paving project requires its demise to correct ponding and for safety, says the mayor, since roots were already trimmed for previous sidewalk work the Casares family requested.
"This is a necessary evil that sometimes you have to take down healthy trees. We don't dispute that the tree is healthy. We don't want to take down a tree that isn't in need of being taken down," Westbury Mayor Pete Cavallaro said Monday.
The mayor released the following statement:
"That the tree is healthy has never been in dispute. But, in order to pave the road properly and eliminate the road and driveway ponding that this resident complained about, we need to fix the apron and curb. We already cut the tree roots on the sidewalk side when we fixed the sidewalks. To now cut the roots on two other sides will compromise the tree and create an unstable tree and endanger all who use that road.
"The resident rejected the option we posed to her to save the tree. She did not want to assume the liabilities that she would foist on the Village.
"Bottom line: we need to fix the road correctly and the resident's self-serving and disingenuous position is spurious and based on false information."
An independent arborist says homeowner Marcelo Casares, sided with the tree.
"They're the ones that are advising us that the tree is sound, it's safe," he said.
"There isn't that many trees around and that one is still very healthy-looking, and I would like to see it stay there," neighbor Joan Alfieri said.
"No matter what, I'm going to keep going," Casares said.
All this for one tree? Casares says that's just the point. She says she's standing up for not just one tree, but for the environment.
"Roads need to be paved, but then consult arborists and figure out a way to do it around the trees," she said. "Earth Day just went by, Arbor Day just went by, and we are cutting trees down."
And if Monday comes a chainsaw?
"I'll be attached to the tree," Casares said.
And in court, seeking relief.