Arboricide in Queens! 600-Year-Old Tree Taken Down

If the trees in this city could talk... this one would have a lot to say. The massive white oak in Little Neck Bay in Queens is "believed to have been born in an open meadow before Columbus arrived in the New World." In 1997 it was even granted landmark status, but now it's being dismantled because it's rotting.

One local told the Times: “It was the eighth wonder of Douglaston. The history of the tree precedes everything that is here. For those of us who grew up around it, we never thought it would disappear.” It is disappearing, however, piece by piece as the homeowners whose land it is on recently became worried it would take out their house; “It’s something that links us with the past. But at the same time, I didn’t want the link crashing down on the house.”

Local sentimentalists aren't happy with the decision to take it down, and have been stopping by to "poach firewood or souvenirs." And while the tree may have lived a nice long 600 year life, that's nothing compared to 9,550 year old.