Nassau County, under the auspices of the Department of Public Works, is in the hasty, immediate process of removing and destroying hundreds of healthy, stately trees lining targeted County Roads throughout the region.

At present, the County has recently destroyed 200 healthy, decades-old oak trees on County Road South Oyster Bay Road, irreperably harming the neighborhoods of Syosset, Plainview, Bethpage, and Hicksville. County Roads W. John Street, Plainview Road, Seaman’s Neck Road, Shelter Rock Road, Searingtown Road, Prospect Avenue, Grand Boulevard, and Penninsula Boulevard have also experienced excessive tree removal over the last four (4) years, amounting to over 1,000 trees destroyed.

UPDATE: The oak trees on S. Oyster Bay Road in Syosset, from the Long Island Expressway to Jericho Turnpike will be removed NEXT if we do not ACT quickly. EVERY tree on S. Oyster Bay Road will be destroyed.

The common theme: No notice, no input, no voice. The public is always left wholly uninformed, intentionally uninvolved, and disregarded. This is unacceptable. Work of this scope and scale that will forever change our neighborhood aesthetic warrants a public forum, a comprehensive solicitation of input from all affected Nassau County residents, as well as careful thought and extensive planning into project design and implementation. Further, there are field-tested, well-researched, highly successful methods advocated by engineers (including the NYC Department of Transportation) and the green industry to ensure our roads and sidewalks are rendered safe, while our magnificent public assets are preserved as well. These are methods that are cheaper, environmentally-friendly, and ADA-compliant--methods NYC consistently and successfully utilizes, methods supported by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Nassau County. Lastly, the County has removed trees on County Roadways where there are no sidewalks, where sidewalk was just replaced, where sidewalk was perfectly flat and compliant. There is no rationale to this indiscriminate, highly expensive removal--this can be construed as fiscal irresponsibility and waste. 

Lastly, replanting a small percentage of expensive dwarf saplings that historically end up dead within 1 year (rather than placing an emphasis on preservation of historical assets that provide myriad benefits to the environment and public health and safety), is not a viable solve. Our neighborhood aesthetic will be forever changed, property values will decline, and most importantly, in turn, rash, wanton destruction of this nature will open up a significant host of enviornmental, legal, health, and safety concerns.

EVERY district throughout Nassau County has tree-lined roadways unprotected and at risk. A listing of County Roads at risk can be found here, with photos: http://tinyurl.com/treesatrisk

A list of neighborhoods that contain County Roads with trees at risk include (but is not limited to): Plainview, Syosset, Jericho, Woodbury, Bethpage, Hicksville, Seaford, Wantagh, Albertson, Manhasset, Manhasset Hills, Herricks, Woodmere, Greenvale, North New Hyde Park, Cedarhurst, Merrick, North Merrick, Bellmore, North Bellmore, Baldwin, Carle Place, East Meadow, East Norwich, Franklin Square, Elmont, Garden City South, Garden City Park, Glen Head, Great Neck Gardens, Searingtown, Greenvale, Hewlett, Inwood, Lakeville Estates, Lakeview, Levittown, Massapequa, North Massapequa, New Cassel, Oceanside, Barnum Island, Oyster Bay, Old Bethpage, Plainedge, Port Washington, Roosevelt, Roslyn Heights, Locust Valley, South Farmingdale, South Hempstead, West Hempstead, Uniondale, and Salisbury.

If you're STUMPED like we are about this ongoing project and the scope of destruction, please SIGN OUR PETITION requesting the trees on every County Road in Nassau at risk to be preserved and saved. For demolition work to cease, for a better solution to be proposed.

Nassau County residents deserve better than the indiscriminate, wanton destruction of our historic, tree-lined thoroughfares that illustratively define Long Island. Please lend a limb and spread the word today.

Please contact your local Legislators, the County Executive, and the Deparmtent of Public Works, demanding work of this scope and scale throughout the County CEASE until we can collectively arrive at a tree-friendly, viable solve. Request a public forum for all to be involved. Demand a change in our outdated County Administrative Code that presently condones this wanton destruction. 

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NASSAU COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Ed Mangano, (516) 626-4266    E-Mail: EMangano@nassaucountyny.gov

All roads targeted are COUNTY Roads falling under Mr. Mangano's jurisdiction.

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NASSAU COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

Commissioner's Office, Shila Shah-Gavnoudias: (516) 571-9604    

Shila Shah-Gavnoudias E-Mail: sshahgavnoudias@nassaucountyny.gov

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LEGISLATORS

Judith Jacobs, District 8: (516) 571-6216  - Syosset, Plainview - jjacobs@nassaucountyny.gov 

Rose Marie Walker, District 17: (516) 571-6217 - Hicksville - rmwalker@nassaucountyny.gov 

Laura Schaefer, District 14: (516) 571-6214 - Bethpage - lschaefer@nassaucountyny.gov 

Outside of these districts, find your County-level Legislator here: http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/wps51/portal/MyNassauInfo

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After signing our Petition, please share this Petition with your family and friends, and visit and "like" us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/operationstomp for updates, photos, and next steps of what to do and how you can help save our trees. If you are involved in a community group, civic group, neighborhood association, chamber of commerce, etc., please send us a note, we want to speak with you!

CHECK OUT OUR STOMP VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO4X9K_6OfY&feature=youtu.be

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE TOO: http://www.operationstomp.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/operationstomp

Please contact us via e-mail, at OperationStomp@GMAIL.COM if you would like to assist with our petition, outreach efforts, and/or if you have any questions.