Friday, December 24, 2010

Fined Christmas tree vendor leaves early; plenty of trees left elsewhere

Here's the scene today on Second Avenue along the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery...



As Patrick Hedlund reported at DNAinfo yesterday, Roger Baust, who has sold Christmas trees along here the past six years, packed it in early. The city fined him $1,500 for keeping a "warm-up hut" on the sidewalk to shelter his staff from the cold.

"I'm just calling it quits because I just can't go on any further," said Baust ... adding the combination of fatigue and dealing with the city forced him to pack it in early.

"I usually stay there until Christmas Day."


We're told that Christmas Eve day is one of his top-selling days of the season. We still have questions about this story, as mentioned yesterday. The disconnect between the alleged complainant(s) and the sudden summons by DOT a few days before Christmas is creepy.

And his crew left this behind... (and some trash, according to a commenter here).



Meanwhile, a quick survey of neighborhood tree stands revealed... there are plenty of trees left...

In front of the St. Mark's Market...



Houston in front of Whole Foods...



Rite-Aid on First Avenue...

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