Tree Removal in Lackawanna, NY

Tree Removal in Lackawanna is shaped by two things: Lake Erie on the west and the way the city was built. Lackawanna split from West Seneca in 1909, a few years after the Lackawanna Steel Company opened its plant here in 1903, and the neighborhoods that housed steelworkers were laid out with narrow lots and modest homes close to the street. The trees growing on those lots now are often volunteers that came up along fences and garages, or shade trees that have long since outgrown the spot they were planted in.

Wind off the water

The former Bethlehem Steel site still fills the waterfront, and since 2007 the Steel Winds project has run eight 2.5-megawatt turbines there. They were put there for a reason. During the December 1, 2006 windstorm, the National Weather Service recorded a 62 mph gust in Lackawanna and 69 mph in downtown Buffalo, with 50,000 to 75,000 customers losing power across the region. A tree with a weak fork or a decayed base does not have to be very big to cause damage when it fails in wind like that on a 30-foot-wide lot.

What we usually find

Trees on lots like these tend to fall into a few groups. Box elder, tree-of-heaven, Siberian elm and mulberry seedlings that were never removed and are now 30 or 40 feet tall against a garage. Old silver or Norway maples whose roots have heaved sidewalks and whose crowns are full of deadwood. Ash that died over the last decade and are now brittle. And storm-split trees after a lake wind event. None of these are complicated for a crew that works in tight spaces, but each needs rigging so the pieces come down in a controlled way.

A city of owners and renters

Census QuickFacts shows a 56.2% owner-occupied rate in Lackawanna and a median owner-occupied home value of $140,700. For owners, a written, itemized estimate makes it possible to plan work in stages: the dangerous tree this year, the next one later. For landlords, we can meet a tenant on site, send photos and handle the approval by phone or email.

Branch pickup schedule

The city collects branches the first full week of each month, from the first full week of April through the first full week of November. Branches go out the day before your garbage day, laid parallel to the curb, and leaves are collected from mid-October through November. A removal produces far more than a curbside pile, and logs are not what that program is for, so we chip on site and haul the wood. If you only want the trunk cut and left, we can quote that too.

Smokes Creek and wet ground

Smokes Creek crosses the city before reaching the lake. Yards near it hold water longer after rain and snowmelt, and trees there can uproot rather than snap. If a tree near the creek has started to tilt, or the ground has cracked on one side of the trunk, have it looked at before the next wind. Get a free estimate