the funny guys at the NYC Parks dept

allen levine

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new york city burbs
I was on my way to work this morning, and I drive through a niced size city park every day coming in.
The road curves uphill and over the years there are always trees falling down during storms.
I noticed alot of logs sitting on the side of the road for months now.
All cut up into 6 feet or so pieces, and many without the bark.
I decided to grab me a piece today, something around 6 feet long and about 8 inches wide. Sucker was super heavy, Im not sure, but I think it was an oak tree, they have acorns certain times of theyear I see all over the streets, and I hit it with a steel bar to see if it was really solid and hard, and its tough as steel. So I backed my truck onto the grass, and decided to try to give it a shot at lifting it myself without killing myself.

I managed to get one end into the back of the truck, when all of a sudden, at 8;10 am, a parks dept green pickup truck pulls up.2 guys, not very friendly, asks me what Im doing, and I tell them Im going to cut up this log, into small slivers, sand it down, and make candle holders using the log.
The guys says to me, with a horrible attitude in his voice" Thats interesting, but you know I could ticket you for taking this off city property, not to mention you pulled onto a no vehicle zone, thats why we have parking lots"
I said, " Im sorry, I wasnt aware there is a law about taking fallen limbs off the ground. And I was only pulling up here to load the log...Ill move right away."

the outcome, he told me Im not allowed to remove the lumber/log.

That is ridiculous, its a fallen limb, or fallen tree cut to pieces, they are not burning it, its going into landfill.
Im going back on my way home, if noone is around, Im taking the log before it becomes wasted landfill..nyc and its rules.

*its not like the logs were stacked or ready for pickup, whereever the trees fell, is where they cut them in order that the road not be blocked, a problem in that park since the trees lean over the road and many limbs fall during storms. I wasnt cutting anything, nor was I taking it froma pile or stack. I think these guys havent eaten their breakfast yet or didnt drink their coffee...I used to stop at parks all the time when I had a fireplace and fill my truck with small branches for kindling, noone ever said a thing to me when they saw me, just advised me to move my car further in from the road.

I dont have my camera, but Ill try to shoot a shot with my cell phone, so you all can see how ridiculous me taking a little log is when all this downed lumber is more of a hazard than anything else.
 
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at 8am, on a saturday, Id guess they were the only 2 parks dept crew in NYC actually working.
(there are strong storms today, I wonder if theyll be as quick to remove the tree branches from the roadway)
 
You could also have bribed them with a beer or two, it is a pity to find such people, and it is a pity that eventually the log was lost.:(
 
Well, . . . New Yorkers are known for their manners :D. Sounds like a couple fellas who needed to bolster their frail egos by being unpleasant. We have parking enforcement like that on the University grounds. The only authority these poor folks have (despite looking like cops) is to write tickets so they make many a mountain out of a mole hill. Sorry you had the bad experience.
 
we had some heavy downpours, didnt last long, but was enough to keep the log a bit submerged, a few inches, and after working 9 hours, I wasnt in the mood to put a wet log in my car.

I told a neighbor what happenned, he told me to just drive around the block a few times and people are always throwing out downed hunks of trees. And theyd be pleased for me to get them off their property.
Im going to look for a log 6-8 inches wide. Slice off 6 inches, drill some holes, stain it, polyurethane and make some rustic candle holders.
I know someone who loves candles and she has the knotty pine furniture rustic stuff going on in half her house.

I got yelled at by my wife this morning actually after telling her. She remembers the "free firewood" I lugged home from someones backyard, and it turned out to be infested with some kind of bugs. We had them all over our den, kitchen, she freaked out. She wants to know why someone who is over 50 years old still does stupid things, and she also wanted to know how come I could lug a heavy wooden log and lift it into the car, but I complain my back hurts when she wants me to lug the garbage pails out to the front. I didnt have a quick response, so I ran out into the garage, cause I knew she was right.
 
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