Craig Johnson

By Adina Genn

Monfort Plaza Shopping Center on Port Washington Blvd. is seemingly barren after the sudden tree removal on July 12 that took the community by surprise. To many, it's still a sore subject. Just ask Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington).

"I'm one of those residents with a very raw feeling about those trees," Johnson said, adding that since his family moved here in 1976, he's watched the trees mature.

Johnson and Assemb. Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck) are working behind the scenes now to see that trees are not chopped down like that again, not just in Port Washington, but across Long Island, Johnson said. "It's my hope to work with the Department of Transportation to ensure that future regulations prevent that."

The trees were chopped down as part of the redevelopment of the shopping plaza. The developer had been issued a permit to remove the trees through the New York State DOT, which has jurisdiction for issuing the permit.

Schimel said she sent a letter last week to Subimal Chakraborti, the regional director of the DOT on Long Island. The letter, she said, includes detailed questions that call for transparency so that any plan for future tree removal is clear to all stakeholders – residents, neighbors, town and village. She's yet to hear from Chakraborti, but plans to call back as early as Friday. "I expect to get a measured response," she said.

In addition, Schimel said she would like to see the planting of "very mature trees" to replace the trees that were removed on Port Blvd.

Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington will hold a meeting with elected officials at the village, town and state level to address tree removal. The meeting will take place at 8 a.m. at the Community Chest Board Room on Aug. 10. By then, nearly a month will have passed since the day the trees were chopped down – enough time perhaps to avoid any knee-jerk reactions.

"It was smart to make it Aug. 10," Schimel said. "Cooler heads prevail."