City Councilman Bobby Henon and Philadelphia’s Department of Parks and Recreation have been teaming up to remove and prune more than 1,000 problematic trees from the 6th Councilmanic District in recent weeks. Henon obtained funding for the ongoing project, nearly $200,000, from the unused portion of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative budget.
“I’m grateful that this work is underway,” Henon said. “My office has received a number of calls on trees for pruning or even removal. This is an important application of funds, that otherwise were going unused, to remove eyesores around the Northeast.”
An interactive graphic on Henon’s website contains data for tree removal and pruning by neighborhood and tree species. Visit www.bobbyhenon.com/street_trees to view the data.
Crews have identified 1,013 trees in need of service, including 804 for pruning and 209 for removal. The areas with the highest concentrations of affected trees include Mayfair (265), Tacony (166), Holmesburg (149), Wissinoming (129), Bridesburg (64) and Oxford Circle (54). Other affected neighborhoods include Academy Gardens, Ashton Woodenbridge, Frankford, Lexington Park, Pennypack, Pennypack Woods, Richmond, Torresdale and Winchester Park.
London Plane is by far the most affected variety of tree with 423 specimens, although 48 Norway Maples will be removed, compared to 43 London Planes and 26 Red Maples. ••
