Some New Yorkers Can't See the Forest for the Trees

"Two trees planted in Queens were yanked from the dirt and hurled into the East River after a man complained that they were blocking his water view.

People have driven cars onto sidewalks to block tree-planters. They have even used what Jennifer Greenfield, the city Parks and Recreation Department's director of street-tree planting, calls the Alzheimer's Excuse.

It was used by a Brooklyn woman who said her Alzheimer's-afflicted mother would not recognize their home if a tree were planted outside.

'Would you say that if someone put up a new traffic light or a stop sign?' Greenfield asked incredulously.

The tree went in."