Tree removal continues at NYC’s East River Park irrespective of court order

Town staff took chainsaws to tree limbs at Manhattan’s East River Park Saturday inspite of a court docket buy halting the huge design project.

Opponents of the $1 billion East Aspect Coastal Resiliency undertaking, which will rebuild the park to stop flooding, secured the non permanent restraining buy Wednesday from the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court docket.

But the city went forward in any case with the get the job done, which will get rid of 1,000 trees from the greenway right before it is rebuilt.

Some 80 protesters collected and chanted “Stop the function! Quit the perform!” as chainsaws buzzed.

The demonstrators, who argue the building will harm the general public greenspace, shook a fence encompassing the park and yelled “Stop what you are performing straight away. You are committing a criminal offense!”

Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who represents the Reduce East Facet, referred to as on Mayor Invoice de Blasio to “immediately halt” the tree-slicing.

“I’m appalled that the mayor and his team would toss aside a non permanent restraining buy granted by the Court docket of Appeals, but this is sadly emblematic of elected officers who perspective by themselves as previously mentioned the regulation and previously mentioned accountability,” Niou explained at the rally.

Arthur Schwartz, a attorney who represents task opponents, stated a town attorney had instructed him the day ahead of that the tree removal operate would resume all over again Friday.

“It was an underhanded shift. I’m guaranteed it was an underhanded move by our mayor, our shortly-to-be former Mayor Invoice de Blasio,” Schwartz explained. “It’s despicable by a attorney. It’s despicable by de Blasio.”

He stated opponents would go back to court Monday and attempt to keep the town in contempt.

A spokesman for the Department of Structure and Design, which is overseeing the job, claimed the city had “reviewed the court’s penned purchase and we do not imagine it prevents us from continuing perform on this vital resiliency venture.”