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Con Ed Steam Kills TriBeCa Trees, Advocate Says

By Julie Shapiro | August 25, 2011 2:11pm

TRIBECA — Fall is still a month away, but four trees in TriBeCa have already shed their leaves.

The trees, along Greenwich and Warren streets, are victims of a nearby Con Edison steam leak that is overheating the soil and cooking the trees' roots, said Steven Boyce, president of Friends of Greenwich Street.

Boyce, an amateur arborist who has been caring for the neighborhood's trees for years, spotted the first dead tree, a honey locust, on Greenwich Street just north of Murray Street in June.

"Within four days, the tree went from being perfectly green, to [having] every leaf on the ground," Boyce said.

The pavement around the tree was hot to the touch, a telltale sign of a steam leak.

Con Edison initially disagreed, telling Boyce that there was no problem. Three more trees died over the next few weeks.

But this week, Con Edison sent workers to investigate and found two steam leaks on Greenwich Street near Warren and Murray streets, which they are fixing now, said Chris Olert, a spokesman for the utility.

An independent arborist will study the dead trees to determine if the steam was to blame, Olert said.

"If we find that our steam damaged the trees, we will replace them," Olert said.

Boyce, 59, who has lived in TriBeCa since 1997, said two of the dead trees were nearly 10 years old, while the other two were planted more recently.

Healthy trees that die quickly are often victims of steam, which dries the soil and prevents the tree from getting any water or nutrition, leading its entire system to shut down, Boyce said.

Boyce isn't the only one concerned about the dead trees. The building manager at 275 Greenwich St., which overlooks the empty branches, said residents have asked what happened.

"It's a quality of life issue," said the manager, who did not give her name because she is not permitted to talk to the press. "Residents have looked out their window and seen the trees for years. They also act as a buffer for sound. People are really upset about it."