Alex came over to bid on two projects.
-- There were two trees that I wanted trimmed on one project. He insisted that they must come down, it will cost the same to take them down as to trim them (of course, wink, and that's not the point). Neither of the other two that came to look said that they had to come down.
-- On the other project, there were two trees with branches going over the next door property, one of them had branches rubbing the building facade next door. I wanted them removed for safety and property protection and liability reasons. He insisted that NY law states that the branches over the neighbor's property were the neighbor's property, and that they cannot be cut without the neighbor's permission. I told them that the neighboring landlord has never been responsive to attempts at communication, that I will send two emails, wait two weeks, and then we will cut the branches. That wasn't good enough for him, he said he didn't want to be liable and he left. My understanding of the law with regard to this is that it is the other way around: a neighbor has the right to cut branches from my tree over their property and that I cannot stop him from doing so, it is not that he can stop me from cutting branches from my tree over his property. After all, what if I wanted to cut the tree down altogether because it was sick or damaged? I couldn't because the neighbor wouldn't let me remove the branch over the his property? I checked with two other tree guys: they said that my understanding of the law is correct, and that Alex's understanding is wrong. I was actually certain that I was correct due to a similar problem I had at a previous home, but just wanted to check to be sure. Maybe Alex does understand but decided that he just didn't want the job and this was his way of backing out. But then he should just say so outright instead of this song and dance with a thick NY attitude. So, be forewarned.
-- he did come out to look. That's more than you can say for a lot of tree guys. He gets 1.5 stars for that. read more