by Leslie Yager
It’s hard to miss the tree being taken down outside Chicken Joe’s of Greenwich at 364 West Putnam Ave. On Tuesday afternoon, no less than a dozen laborers were busy with chain saws, stacking logs, and gathering smaller branches in tarps.
A call to Mary Hull of Greenwich Green & Clean revealed a bit of the sad history of the centuries old year old pin oak tree, which lost a major limb over the holiday weekend.
The massive limb ripped from the tree and damage to an adjacent lamp post and sign outside Chicken Joe’s was evident on Tuesday afternoon.
“The state had wanted to take it down for years,” Hull said. “Larry Cooper, the then tree warden and I, and several others fought very hard to save the tree, which belongs to the state. We’ve been saving this tree now for so many years, because it belongs to the state. Bruce’s (Spaman) had commented that the limb was old and exhausted and just ready to go. But we’re hoping to save the tree,” Hull said.
The tree sits on private property owned by Giuseppe “Joe” Furano, proprietor of GFF Services.