UPDATE: Crews took down the tree on Tuesday, and neighbors said the danger is no longer.
ORIGINAL: Anna Marie Petroziello has been calling the City of Niagara Falls for two years, warning them about a dying tree she’s concerned could fall on a school bus stop, still nothing has been done.
Two years, that’s how long Petroziello in the City of Niagara Falls tells me she’s been trying to make her neighborhood safer.
Her top concern is this dead and rotting tree sitting just a foot or so from the curb at the corner of 93rd St. and Champlain Ave. The home behind it, Petroziello says has sat unoccupied for two years.
“My big, huge concern is that this is a school bus corner, with young kids Monday thru Friday being picked up and dropped off here,” Petroziello said. “With winter around the corner, high winds, snow, [it’s] very concerning something larger could come down and injure, or God forbid, something worse [could happen] to some child.”
Over the past two years, Petroziello told me she’s called the city mayor and director of public works more times than she can count.
“I can’t even tell you how many times, many many times and I’ve gotten nowhere,” Petroziello said. “It’s very frustrating that I should have to contact Channel 7 News. Nobody should have to do this, the city should be taking care of this.”
According to the Niagara Falls Department of Public Works’ website, “trees that are dead, dying, or structurally defective that pose a hazard to people and public property, are the number one priority for removal.”
I called both the mayor’s office and the Department of Public Works to ask why this one wasn’t removed as part of those rules and have not yet heard back from either.
