A Great White Oak tree that towered at least 100 feet for more than six centuries in Douglaston stands no more after a large branch that crashed through an Arleigh Road home last summer forced the tree’s property owners to have the city landmark chopped down.
Raymond and Ann Rombone said they were sad to see the gigantic oak tree being taken apart piece by piece on their lawn along Arleigh Road in Douglaston during the past week. The couple has lived in the home for six years.
The tree, which is estimated to be more than 600 years old, had lost a 50-foot limb in mid-August which had plummeted onto the Rombone’s home and damaged their gutters and roof.
“My wife and I decided it was dangerous to walk anywhere around the tree and we were afraid other branches would give way and crush our house,” Raymond Rombone said. “One of the reasons we originally bought this house was because of the tree. It was a celebrity in its own right. We thought it was beautiful and didn’t mind being responsible for it.”
Lisi de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the city Landmarks Preservation Commission, said the tree had been named a landmark as part of a 1997 designation of Douglaston’s historic district, which includes 600 homes and a number of trees.
“One of the reasons the district was designated was because there are a lot of remarkable trees there,” de Bourbon said. “They define the district in Douglaston.”
On Sept. 22, the commission issued a permit to the Rombones which allowed them to have the tree removed. But Raymond Rombone said the city forced him to pay for the removal since it is on his property, costing him more than $10,000.
The Rombones enlisted an arborist to study the tree to ensure it posed a danger before they were allowed to have it chopped down. The tree was found to be irreversibly damaged by a fungal infection, de Bourbon said. In addition, the arborist was not able to determine the tree’s exact age because n the 1920s a previous owner at the property had part of its interior filled with concrete to help keep it standing. The concrete made it impossible to study the tree’s rings and determine its age.
Rombone said his neighbors have been taking away the pieces of wood from the tree to use in their fireplaces since work began on the property Friday.
The couple will also consider replacing the 600-year-old tree with a new one.
“We’ve been talking about planting a sapling to replace it once we get the landscaping done,” he said. “Then, we’ll figure out the proper place to put at tree.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.