Who's cutting more trees at Jerome Park Reservoir?

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) have no explanation for how or why about 30 mature trees were cut near the Jerome Park Reservoir in early April.

“I can say that DEP gave our agency the funding for more trees,” DPR spokesman Andrew Penzi said at the latest Croton Facility Monitoring Committee (CFMC) meeting on Monday night.

But neither he nor Eric Landau, a DEP spokesman, had an answer for why trees were removed from an area adjacent to the Jerome Park Reservoir.

As activists wait for the delivery of 553 total previously promised trees, the decision to cut more specimens without consulting the community was seen by some as another sign of bad faith. Previous tree removal sparked an outrage.

“Removing trees in an area that is controlled by two agencies, where neither has any idea who did it, is a remarkable development in the city of New York and the borough of the Bronx,” said Gary Axelbank, a longtime active participant at CFMC meetings.

“There used to be a forest here,” Mr. Axelbank told officials, as he scrolled between before and after photographs of the site uploaded from a personal flash drive onto a projector. “But it was like I looked up, and [the trees] were gone.”

DEP officials denied wrongdoing on the plot, which they own, and which is operated by DPR.

Lack of access to the Jerome Park Reservoir, which has been fenced off for years, remains a point of contention for many Croton activists. They have held regular meetings to grill authorities about the reservoir, which is connected to the Croton Water Filtration Plant Project. The undertaking has run nearly four times over its original estimated budget and seen numerous delays.

Mr. Landau reiterated his agency’s position that the reservoir could not be opened because of security risks.

“If someone throws something into the reservoir, there is not enough time to detect, remove or warn people about it,” he said.

But activists were not convinced by the argument.