STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The felling of trees in preparation for the building of 250 housing units began on Tuesday morning at Mount Manresa, which has one of the few remaining old growth forests in New York City.
Savo Brothers of Prince's Bay didn't waste any time sending in the tree trimmers after obtaining a favorable ruling from a Manhattan judge on Monday. Workers were at the 15.4-acre site zoned for town houses on Tuesday morning taking down trees despite the rainy weather.
On Monday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Peter Moulton lifted a temporary restraining order and ruled against stalling construction or demolition work at the former retreat site. The judge denied a motion to issue a preliminary injunction, which would have stopped Savo Brothers from doing any work at the site while the judge considered arguments that it should be landmarked and that environmental studies are needed before the issuance of demolition or building permits.
"Mount Manresa is a jewel, a ready-made park, with landscaped grounds and 86 "old-growth" trees (from 30 to 64 inches in circumference) -- many 200-plus years old, several of which are 400 years old," wrote Ellen Pratt of the committee and Protectors of Pine Oak Wood in a letter published in the Advance.
"It contains the largest group of unprotected 'old-growth' trees on Staten Island and also within New York City."