Trees are beautiful, lovely to look at, and as we know, essential for a healthy and clean environment since they provide oxygen through photosynthesis and remove carbon dioxide from the air.
Nevertheless, trees can be a cause of serious injuries and even death. Huge trees or very substantial tree limbs sometimes fall. A falling tree is a hazard that is immediately life threatening, if it does not result in only crippling and permanent injuries.
The State of New York has the obligation to maintain the trees alongside State Arterial Highways up fo 20 feet from the roadway.
The City of New York has a similar obligation to maintain its trees in a reasonably safe condition whether those trees are on sidewalks, alongside highways or roads, or in parks.
The obligation to maintain a tree also applies to the owner of buildings, office buildings, residential buildings, or homes on whose land the tree sits.
Trees do not fall by themselves. While nature is a substantial factor in trees falling especially at times of high winds, a lack of proper maintenance is often the essential and ultimate cause of the falling tree.
Trees consist of three basic parts: roots; the trunk; and the limbs and branches with their leaves.
A tree can become visibly rotten. Failure to remove visibly rotten tree by cutting it down is the failure to remove a hazardous condition where pedestrians or oars with occupants are nearby.
