Hundreds of young trees were ripped from the ground — some stolen, some just left for dead — in a disturbing act of vandalism in Kissena Park in Queens last weekend that has horrified park and greenway volunteers.
The damage was first spotted on Saturday, April 6 in the area between the Four Winds Playground and the Kissena Velodrome. Volunteers had planted 300 saplings there since 2022.
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"We're livid," one volunteer told Streetsblog. "It's personal for all of us. We're volunteers."
A poster on Reddit broke the news, though it's unclear if the Central Park Raccoons were involved:
Another witness reported seeing ATV riders also in the area the next day, and warned the illegal four-wheelers to leave the area alone. The pictures on Reddit do, indeed, show the kinds of tracks left by off-road vehicles.
The NYPD and Parks Department have investigated, but neither agency responded to questions from Streetsblog on Sunday.
The park includes a crucial east-west bike greenway connector. The Kissena Park Connector is part of Destination Greenways plan and volunteers have worked with current and a prior Council member to get funding.
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Council Member Sandra Ung, who has supported the volunteers' work, told NY1 that anyone witnessing any vandalism should report it.