The NYPD told a tree climbing protester at the site of an East Side seawall construction project Monday to make like a tree and “leave.”
Work on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) was abruptly disrupted Monday when a disgruntled local climbed a tree to prevent it from being uprooted.
Calling themselves tree defenders, several park goers cheered for a young woman on April 25 who scaled mesh fencing surrounding a construction area in the East River Park before climbing onto the base of a tree near Corlears Hook Park between Cherry and Grand Streets.
Chainsaw-wielding workmen slumped on a nearby wood pile while several NYPD officers and a Parks Enforcement Patrol officer attempted to talk the protester down. With the woman refusing to be unseated from her woody perch, the workmen were instructed to turn their attention to several other trees in the area.