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Author Topic: Washington Plaza (Read 140067 times)
Re: Washington Plaza
Quote from: Simka on July 03, 2017, 12:09:48 PM
So, someone didn't like the tree in the courtyard outside the C and D buildings. I woke up to the sound of a chainsaw cutting it to pieces. It was a perfectly healthy tree—I could see the exposed, cut, healthy trunk from above, and the two workers doing the chainsawing confirmed that for me. They said someone who lives in one of the apartments facing the tree complained about it. (Actually, I don't know if it was just one apartment. Maybe there are multiple tree haters.)
I'm guessing it was a new owner. No tenant here has the power to demand that management cut down a tree.
I have a feeling I'll be attacked for griping about this tree being cut down. But it was a healthy tree and was nice to look out at from my windows. And squirrels and birds lived in it. It was an integral part of the leafy oasis that is Washington Plaza. Kind of like the fountains someone here complained about.
If any of you posting here have info that there was a good reason it was cut down,* please fill me in.
* "Someone didn't like how the tree blocked sun from their apartment" doesn't count.
I think they should put in a bbq pit instead of having the pool. They already have sections, so, a meat section, a vegan section and a kosher/halal/korean bbq section.
MrPlaza
AS A (soon-to-be) NEW OWNER, I certainly hope there was a more substantial reason for this to happen. Certainly without first notifying the residents. Let's not jump to conclusions about how this came to pass, but I hope this kind of thing isn't going to be common practice. We need more, not less, trees. This is really disheartening news.
Simka
Quote from: jh35 on July 03, 2017, 02:47:25 PM
That could be very profitable. If they put it at the front, owners could sell food to passersby and raise money for the reserve fund!
Quote from: MrPlaza on July 03, 2017, 10:15:42 PM
I am totally with you. What I said yesterday was based on what the two workers told me. Since then I've heard (through the building grapevine), that the WP gardner tried unsuccessfully to reason with the managing agent, saying that the issue could be addressed by topping off the tree. The person who told me that also reported that the tree was cut down because it interfered with someone's view of the courtyard. I don't get why one person's view would trump everyone else's view. Well, I mean...I can see why, from the manager's POV, an owner's view would trump a renter's view. But even if the complainer was an owner, there are a number of owners affected by what's done in the courtyard. Why obey that particular owner's wishes and not consult all owners?
Right now the WP board is controlled by the sponsor. Over time, as more apartments are purchased, the board's makeup will shift, and hopefully owners will have more say in matters like this.
On a serious note: the removal of the tree does not speak well of the quality of people they have sold the apartments to or of the regard of the management office toward the tenants.
I'd caution against making sweeping generalizations about owners in the building. Again, as an owner, I believe if you bought a unit with a tree outside of your window, you should have to live with that tree outside of your window. Petition for it to be trimmed, sure. But cutting it down should have never been an option because of one person's view. And not to gloat about it, but outside of the sponsor, I believe my wife and I will be the second largest shareholders. We would have never supported this action if shareholders were ever asked for their perspective. There are other ways to address obstructed views. Cutting the tree down altogether should have only been done if it was dying and/or infested and posed a danger to residents.
Quote from: MrPlaza on July 05, 2017, 11:45:42 AM
I have no doubt that you would not want to fell a tree for frivolous reasons.
I was just annoyed that after putting up with the noise and dirt for years this is the result; a fleeing sponsor who will do anything to sell the apartments.
I'm glad to hear you say that, especially since you and your wife are large shareholders. Perhaps you could make inquiries into why this decision was made.
When I lived in San Francisco there was a (un PC alert) predominant ethnic group who would cut down every tree and bush on their property when they would buy a house. They would say, "It is cleaner."
If they are going to respond to every new owner this way, this will be an interesting building to live in.
I have already read someone say he/she do not like the cascading pool.
You sound like a quality person who's not quick to make prejudiced assumptions. The word you're looking for in that bolded statement is racist alert, not un-PC. Imputing a perceived proclivity to cut down trees to being a member of a certain ethnic group without knowing more is basically textbook racism.
"When I lived in San Francisco there was a (un PC alert) predominant ethnic group who would cut down every tree and bush on their property when they would buy a house. They would say, 'It is cleaner.'"
Somewhere in between racist and un-PC is stereotyping (overgeneralization).
A gorgeous, huge, healthy tree on 89th Street was cut two years ago because it gave off a sticky substance that the next door neighbor claimed was damaging to his/her car. Both residents have now moved and no car is being parked where the tree once was. (sorry, has nothing to do with racism, just stupidity.)
Quote from: jeanette on July 18, 2017, 01:40:46 PM
Actually, "It is cleaner" was said to me more than once after trees were cut down. Ask anyone who lived in SF for a while and you can verify this. This was also verified by my boss who said she and her family felt the same way.
Maybe your racist sensibilites and just ignorance of people's differences.
racism:
1.a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.
2.a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3.hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
None of this applies.
My belief that some people are indifferent to trees does not make them inferior.
Sorry, Jh35, it was not me who labeled you a racist.
Oh, sorry. I do acknowledge stereotyping.
Racism is discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity.
Many people, especially people from groups against whom stereotypes are used, view stereotyping as racist behavior.
Your statement led with the fact that it was about a certain group. Couple that with the entirely negative associations/judgment about tree-cutting you have made abundantly clear in this thread (hence why I also quoted the statement about so-called quality of people) makes it hard to believe that you're not implying some type of inferiority on people who are inclined to cut trees, even all the while saying that particular group of people do it for cleanliness.
And you know, feel free to have that opinion but let's not make it about PC or un-PC. That would be the same ruse that Donald Trump uses.
N00b: I'll take that olive branch you (almost) extended. I hope others do as well.
But not before I point out that, I would think, there is not a person on the face of the earth who has any meaningful brain development that hasn't made a generalization about others.
e.g., blankety blank are the nicest people.
Where does that leave everybody else? Not so nice?
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