Fascinating Tornado Footage

I hadn’t seen this lobby footage before… it’s pretty amazing. But you have to wait until the end to see the tornado hit. Notice the chandelier as it starts to shake as the tornado approaches. The doorman was certainly smart to get the hell out of there when he did!

Tie a Yellow Ribbon…

I thought this makeshift ribbon that appeared on a tree near the corner of 71st Road and 110 St. was a particularly creative, even touching, use for the police tape around the tree since the tornado. Was someone honoring the memory of all the trees in town that were destroyed? Or is it to remind us of our soldiers fighting in Afghanistan? I guess it’s whatever we want it to be…

Speaking of trees and the tornado, during last night’s online chat here on Edge of the City, preservationist Michael Perlman shared a link where everyone can go to file a request with the city for a new tree on their block.

Here is the link: Request a Street Tree

Live Chat Now Underway

Please join us now in the Edge of the City Chat Room for a  Q&A discussion with Michael Perlman, chair of the Rego-Forest Preservation Council.

Michael is a local preservationist and activist who has led the battle to save the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium from demolition. He has also been very active since the tornado documenting the storm’s terrible destruction in our neighborhood and calling attention to it.

You can access the chat room by clicking on this link: Edge of the City Chat Room

Join Us For A Live Chat Tonight at 8

I have just confirmed that Michael Perlman, chair of the Rego-Forest Preservation Council, will be joining us in the Edge of the City Chat Room tonight at 8 p.m., where he will take your questions.

Michael is a local preservationist and activist who has led the battle to save the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium from demolition. He has also been very active since the tornado documenting the storm’s terrible destruction in our neighborhood and calling attention to it.

You can access the chat room by clicking on this link: Edge of the City Chat Room

Or via the link on the right hand side of this page.

If you have a question for Michael that you’d like to submit beforehand, feel free to post it in the comments for this post, or email it to me at drakefohinyc@gmail.com

See you tonight!

Storm Damage Update

The following information is from the City’s Parks Department.  It contains some really interesting updated info on the impact of the tornado:

View an album of photos of the aftermath of the storms and of Parks’ cleanup effort.

As of Tuesday, September 28, over 9,000 calls were made to 311 to report trees damaged or down. Over 6,900 of these tree service request calls to 311 came from Queens, over 1,600 from Brooklyn, and nearly 400 from Staten Island. They include over 3,500 calls for downed trees, nearly 3,700 calls for downed limbs, and over 1,700 calls for hanging limbs. This is the highest number of storm calls in the 14 years Parks Forestry has tracked tree damage and downed trees using our current system. The number does not take into account hundreds, perhaps thousands of trees damaged or down in parks.

The storm left a swath of destruction that stretches uninterrupted from Park Slope through Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick in Brooklyn, into Ridgewood, Queens and all the way through Queens to Bayside. In Staten Island the worst damage is on the North Shore (Port Richmond, Livingston, New Brighton), with another pocket of damage in Tottenville on the South Shore. There was little or no damage to trees in Manhattan or the Bronx. The damage is due to the effects of two tornados and a macroburst that sheared tops off of many otherwise healthy trees which will now have to be taken down as well.

View a map of storm event service requests.

Parks crews immediately began working to clear downed trees and have already collected nearly 2,350 tons of wood waste. There are 127 Parks Forestry teams, comprising 588 staff, and they include both forestry crews and inspectors, alongside forestry contractor crews working under a storm emergency contract. Currently deployed are 70 bucket trucks / tree trimmers, 25 chipper trucks, 40 log loaders, and 18 container trucks. Staff from Manhattan and the Bronx are being deployed in Queens. Additionally, the Office of Emergency Management is coordinating a citywide effort of hundreds of other city workers to remove downed trees and debris from streets and highways across the region. Assistance is being provided by the New York City Departments of Police, Fire, Transportation, Sanitation, Design & Construction (for sidewalk reconstruction contracts), Environmental Protection, New York State Department of Transportation, and the National Guard and volunteers coordinated by NYC Service. Con Ed is simultaneously clearing wires so that trees can be removed. We have also engaged the assistance of the United States Forest Service, who recently dispatched 20 members of their elite “Hot Shot” crew from Alabama to assist with chain-sawing and clean-up efforts.

We continue to urge citizens not to try to clear downed trees by themselves, as trees can weigh many tons and suddenly shift or fall.

Here’s what else you can do:

• To report City trees or limbs that are down, please visit our online forestry service request system or call 311.
• If the trees are City trees and you would like to address the clean up independently with a contractor, you will need to fill out a simple permit application before the work is begun. The application can be filled out electronically, and completed applications should be sent to the email address included with the form. Please include the words “Emergency Permits” in the subject line.
• If the trees are your own, or if you would like a City tree removed on your own schedule, Parks has prepared a list of contractors who are insured and experienced in this type of work. In addition, the City will be removing tree stumps and repairing sidewalks at no cost to homeowners. Please call 311 for more information.
• Volunteer with NYC Service to Clean Up Tree Debris
• Donate to MillionTreesNYC and the Mayor’s Fund

Weather Update

If you’re just starting your commute home now, so far all we have had is a very windy and overcast afternoon here in Forest Hills — no rain, and no tornadoes! The radar actually looks like the storminess might have passed by us without much of anything.

But, once again, do keep your eyes on all those damaged trees. I have noticed a few really large branches or pieces of trees hanging precariously high overhead. I am actually surprised these haven’t been attended to yet by the City since they can be very dangerous, especially when it’s windy like this.

What a Tornado Watch Means

It doesn’t mean there IS a tornado – just that conditions are favorable for one and it could happen.

Here is some more info on this:

City Room: Tornado Watch in Effect in New York City Region

By By ELISSA GOOTMAN

Published: September 28, 2010

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for a wide swath of the metropolitan region, including all five boroughs of New York City.

Tornado Watch Until Tonight

Yes, it is true – they have issued another tornado watch. I have my space in the hallway all ready just in case. 😦

From Weather Underground:

	Tornado Watch
Statement as of 1:03 PM EDT on September 28, 2010 Tornado Watch 686 remains in effect until 600 PM EDT for the following locations NY . New York counties included are Albany Bronx Broome Chenango Columbia Delaware Dutchess Greene Kings Madison Montgomery Nassau New York Oneida Orange Otsego Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond Rockland Schenectady Schoharie Sullivan Ulster Westchester

Seeing the Forest for the Trees

Image via Wikipedia

One positive thing the tornado did for me was make me appreciate, of all things, trees! I am not joking. After seeing the scary sight of all those enormous trees brought down by the storm, I walked through the Gardens this past weekend and for the first time really appreciated the amazing trees that are still standing. Boy, are we blessed in this area with some awesome trees! They must be some of the oldest in the City.

Anyway, I came across this interesting story in The Times about how a tree clearing crew from Tennessee has been in the City since the storm helping with the recovery:

Urban Turn for Workers Accustomed to the Forest

By REBECCA WHITE

Published: September 27, 2010

The Cherokee Hotshots, an elite forestry crew, came to New York City to clear the debris from two tornadoes.

Map of Tornado Damage

It occurred to me that I haven’t seen a map of the local path and damage from the tornado. This is a work in progress and by no means complete. Please let me know your suggestions for additions and any changes. I am going just by incidents on the day of the tornado that I have learned about; I am sure there are a lot more I do not know about, so feel free to point them out to me so I can add them.

Click here for the map: http://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/BoOmHdmlWG

I am adding photos of what Anonymous is referring to in the comment below about the building across from Kennedy House. I checked it out today and was able to snap a couple of photos (sorry, it was hard to get even these because of the rain storm and I couldn’t get a shot of the entire building.)