Tree Branch Breaker

I haven't really followed this thread, but any chance this guy hits Prospect Park?

Several smaller trees (including many recently planted ones) have several branches ripped off and left under them in the last day or two. There are not the result of the weather, but obviously deliberate destruction. These were all in the northern end of Longmeadow. Very sad.

reality show idea:

SteveCam

does anyone have a picture of steve? i wonder if he is the same jerk off who ripped out plants out of my potter few years back.

does anyone have a picture of steve? i wonder if he is the same jerk off who ripped out plants out of my potter few years back.

i give you permission to assume it was him

Gothamist got it too
http://gothamist.com/2010/07/15/lo_arboricide_unit_brooklyn_tree_br.php

In my neck of the woods:

the "building side" of EP between Underhill and Washington.

Underhill avenue between EP and Sterling.

Wander around Mount Prospect Park (the small one between the Botanic garden and the library) and you will be busy.

If you enter Prospect Park through the PH tunnel (the left tunnel as you face the park), trees on both sides of the path.

Once you are in the park, walk toward the dog beach - pond and look left and right as you walk.

You will be busy.

Park from Carlton to Bedford various trees (classon to bedford he hit every tree on the block)
EP from Underhill to Nostrand (both medians)
Lincoln near Franklin
Sterling from Bedford to Underhill

I was trying to document more based upon the reports in this thread, but it occurs to me that if you did every block in the area bounded by Bedford to the east, Vandy to the west, EP to the South and Park Place to the north plus threw in Mt Prospect Park and then PP itself, you'd cover most of the major damage reported here.

Take lots of pictures! It might help make a case against this guy. I took a bunch and sent them to Tish's office already.

Man who’s been destroying trees in Brooklyn is held for psychological evaulation
By EDMUND DeMARCHE

Last Updated: 2:53 PM, July 15, 2010

Posted: 1:33 PM, July 15, 2010

Comments: 14 | More Print
If a tree grows in Brooklyn, don’t show it to this guy.

Steve Maynard, 35, has spent the past few weeks bizarrely tearing limbs off trees across the borough — causing $200,000 in extensive damage to those along Eastern Parkway, authorities said.

Maynard — charged with criminal mischief — was arraigned in Brooklyn court today and ordered held for psychological evaluation.

He told cops that he was working for a private eye searching for the body of a girl named “Amy,” who he believed had been killed by demons in the trees, officials said.

After Maynard was arrested, he was observed by cops casting and reeling in an imaginary fishing rod.

“He was cooperative, and he’s a peaceful guy,” said his lawyer, Sara Feinberg. “Jail would not do him any good.”

Sources described Maynard as a former construction worker who suffered a career-ending hand injury and is now collecting disability.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/man_who_been_destroying_trees_psychological_nWNbtPpw3N0Ll3axc1X18I#ixzz0tqOnGtS8

great. now what will happen to Amy?

Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 2:30 PM

NYC Department of Exorcism
via: [email protected]

Subject: request for services

Dear NYC Department of Exorcism,

I understand you are able to certify trees as being without demons.

When you encounter a tree actually infected with demons, are you able to get rid of the demons?

When you encounter a human who has demons, are you able to get rid of the demons?

Are you a former member of Ghost Busters?

Sincerely,
whynot_31

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: request for services
Thursday, July 15, 2010 3:30 PM
From: "NYC Department of Exorcism" <exorcismnyc>

Dear Whynot_31,

Unfortunately due to citywide budget cuts we no longer have any professional exorcists on staff and are thus unable to rid people or trees of demons. At present our staff consists of a single moonlighting intern with a bootleg copy of photoshop. We share this intern with a number of other city agencies and non-profit research institutes.

Nevertheless, we remain confident in our ability to certify trees and people as demon-free.

Allow me to explain. The Department's official position on supernatural phenomena is that they simply do not exist. We acknowledge that taking such a position within NYC's present funding climate amounts to bureaucratic suicide, however we maintain no interest in civil service sinecures for ourselves and our associates.

Regardless of the non-existence of spirit-beings, our work continues to serve a pressing public interest. While it would appear that imaginary problems require no solution, we have found that this is simply not the case.

All too often problems emerge simply because people imagine them and then try to solve them. Efforts at rational persuasion continually fail to prevent such individuals from 'doing good.' In such cases participation in their fantasy lives offers the only hope reaching them.

Our most recent intervention (the creation of tree flyers for the residents of Prospect Heights and Crown Heights) took place along the lines of these broad principles.

On the one hand there was an individual who may or may not have believed that local trees were possessed by demons, but who certainly was dismembering them enthusiastically. On the other hand, there were numerous individuals who may or may not have meant it, but who were certainly threatening the tree breaker with violence. [My department perceived that the comments represented on the Brooklynian.com represented only a small portion of the people upset.]

For the former we provided evidence that safe, alternative demon-eradication procedures had been performed by competent authorities. For the latter we provided a wholesome alternative flyer-posting activity and an dose of levity.

Despite slim resources we and our partners have other grassroots harm reduction interventions in the works that will be deployed in the the coming weeks and months. In the mean time I remain

your humble servant,
Dr. Peter Venkman.


New York City Department of Exorcism
150 K Crown Heights Residents
Brooklyn, NY 11216
[email protected]
Twitter @ExorcismNYC

Subject: street tree damage

So I went out this morning with a friend who is a licensed citizen pruner, and we took care of the damage on about a dozen trees. Happily most of the ones we saw on a few blocks of Eastern Parkway, Underhill, St Johns and Washington looked like they were going to be okay. We used a pole saw, loppers, and pruners. I'll try and post some pix later. ANd it looked like some of the trees had already been doctored by someone else. But there's a lot more damage, we just ran out of time. Anyone who is a citizen pruner or who has the necessary skills should absolutely go walk these blocks looking for damage. I didn't even get a chance to visit Park Place, which I heard was particularly badly hit.

And it's going to be hot for the next week, so feel free to give the trees some water, too!

it would be helpful if i could get hourly updates on what steve is thinking and doing.

thanks.

Heard that he was back home.

Given a good attorney, it is possible that he was released prior to his next appearance in court on 8/18/10.

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcrim_attorney/Detail?which=case&docketNumber=2010KN056137&courtType=L&countyId=23&docketId=3696096&docketDseq=1&defendantName=Maynard,+Steven&county=KINGS&court=Kings+Criminal+Court&recordType=C&recordNum=19857999#NextAppearance

I ask for an attorney's input, but I believe a defendant can be remanded to the custody of the court on mental health grounds (aka a 730 hearing), then quickly be deemed not in need of such custody and transferred to criminal proceedings. In this situation, he would be entitled to be arraigned within 72 hours (just like everyone is).

....at which point he would be able to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

....and it would be up to the judge to decide whether to:
a. release him without bail, or
b. set a bail, then release him upon someone posting said bail, or
c. hold him without bail until his court date on 8/18/10.

For example, he would be entitled to these options if the court psychiatrists and defense attorney agreed that he had become stabilized on medications.

In such a situation, it is very unlikely that the ADA would be able to convince the judge to hold him without bail. [this guy isn't accused of killing anyone....]. So, he could have gotten released on "a" or "b".

Of course, all of this is speculation.

1. My experience with the intricacies 730 is very limited.
2. We do not "know" that he is back. I do not know Bkchickie, or the reliability of her information.

In any case, if he is back, he is returning to a situation in which Mobile Crisis and APS are supposed to be awaiting his return.

It's midnight. I'll see all of you guys next Sunday. I promised myself I'd go on a real vacation (not just from work, but from all that is NYC. Believe me, this thread is NYC!).