Block 832 Takes a Hit

What happened to this utility pole in a corner of our yard? The pole and its wires had been covered by a mass of wisteria, making a hangout for birds and squirrels.

Checking Lot 7 next door - the wisteria was on the ground along with the wires.

In a rear yard of a Park Avenue apartment building, fallen tree limbs could be seen.

Here's the rest of the pole in a corner of Lot 7. But whose pole is it? PSE&G? The phone company?

A walk to the rear of the Park Avenue apartment building reveals a tree's canopy occupying a large part of the parking lot.

And here's the cause of it all. As pieced together by people who saw and heard the crash, the tree fell, bringing down the wires, and the pressure snapped the pole. A mighty clean-up job remains for the city in Lot 7 and for Connolly Properties at the rear of the Park Avenue apartment building. Thanks to the Police Division and Fire Division who responded very quickly to a call for help in determining what utilities had to be notified.

We'll probably see a new pole in our yard soon and the rampant wisteria will most likely slither back up by spring to make a new sanctuary for the sparrows, goldfinches, cardinals and others who like to hide in its shady bower.

Not even my neighbor's efforts with a wicked double-toothed saw have deterred the wisteria. It has been cut down every season and it just comes back. A nearby maple tree on Block 832 turns purple each spring with festoons of wisteria that reach to its top. But for now, the green curtain over our garages has been removed, by the hand of Mother Nature.

--Bernice Paglia