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Martini Glambassador's avatar

Avast! Yer lookin’ at a header with the first animated appearance of Popeye in the Sailor. Yar. More info here: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/its-popeye-the-sailor-man

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OneYieldRegular's avatar

The Ferris wheel that sends riders flying through the air directly into the roller coaster car makes that seem like my kind of amusement park.

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Doug Langley's avatar

If you like that, check out the scene in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius where Jimmy rigs an entire amusement park to fly off into space.

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Martini Glambassador's avatar

I loved that detail too.

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Menotsure's avatar

The Fleischer Brothers were real innovators in animation, mixing animation with live action footage, inventing the rotoscoping technique, pioneering color, and bringing 3-D effects to the screen. Disney copped lot of their ideas without admitting or crediting them.

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Mal Speranza's avatar

Plus, they were batshit crazy insane and their animations are true works of art.

One of the many reasons I detest both Disney and Pixar is that they converted animation into a formulaic medium aimed at kids (who like formulas and familiar tropes). First Disney, and later Pixar nailed that coffin shut.

The animation artists who are free of that approach, and who are viable and broadly successful, are few indeed. Miyazaki, Richard Linklater, the team that created Yellow Submarine, and (yes) Fantasia. Plenty of other creators out there, but all in the marginal world of "art film."

I don't include cartoons like The Simpsons and Bojack Horseman because they follow the Disney system: boring, formulaic visual style, and stories that are entirely driven by narrative. They take only limited advantage of the sheer creative freedom afforded by animation.

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Carstonio's avatar

They did the first adaptations of Superman for the screen. Restored recently, the cartoons are stunning visually.

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Menotsure's avatar

They were the most expensive short cartoons ever made during their run.

Totally avatar appropriate comment.

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Mr blob's avatar

Their work, especially the pre-hays code films of early Betty Boop from roughly 29-33, were surreal hallucinatory nightmares that frequently gave people like Cab Calloway the exposure they wouldn’t otherwise be given in white america at the time

https://youtu.be/q2g6Mo5PIr4

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Menotsure's avatar

Absolutely! Their version of Snow White featured a rotoscoped Cab Calloway as a dancing ghost singing "St, James Infirmary".

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A. M. Jordan's avatar

Their 3D effect was different from Disney's. Disney's people invented the multiplane camera. Fleischer used models. Both made great cartoons.

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Menotsure's avatar

Yes. The multi-plane technique allowed fo movement into and out of an apparently deep environment. The Fleischers technique gave the appearance of horizontal tracking shot with a parallax effect.

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Beanz&Berryz's avatar

Clearly I have some homework to do.

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Thalia Is Not Amused's avatar

Walt Disney was a schmuck.

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Menotsure's avatar

No schitt!

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Thalia Is Not Amused's avatar

Ha! Good one, Me.

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Menotsure's avatar

You are always appreciated.

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Thalia Is Not Amused's avatar

As are you, my sweet friend.

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Aug 8, 2023
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Doug Langley's avatar

He was a "friendly witness" at the HUAC trials to crush his fellow filmmakers as Communists, and - um, not helping, is it?

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Thalia Is Not Amused's avatar

You may find this interesting: Walt's partner, Ub Iwerks, seemed to be an all right guy.

https://youtu.be/4dyIcZTVyH4

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Menotsure's avatar

He created much of what we think of as Disney icons.

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Menotsure's avatar

The Disney "Snow White" used rotoscoping on the Snow White and Prince characters. The Fleischer's invented that technique and held several patents, so Disney denied that he used it, even though the effect was obvious.

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Bub the Displaced Zombie's avatar

Meh. I'm a Warner Bros guy myself.

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Menotsure's avatar

Good taste, doc. Class will out.

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V4Virginia's avatar

That was a great one! Kudos!

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TootsStansbury 🇺🇦's avatar

Love it

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Daniel's avatar

Back when gritty, "realistic" superhero movies were the thing, I watched loads of black and white Popeye videos on YouTube and posted comments about the actors playing the characters- not the voice actors, the cartoon characters. I made back stories for them all, how Poop Deck Pappy was actually the writer of the series who had several brilliant but experimental and unpublished novels under his belt when he took this job to pay the bills, the actress playing Olive Oyl was a Shakespearean actress who had won acclaim for her Ophelia, and how Bluto's actor was in the closet and fled when blackmailed, travelling to Spain to fight for the Republic.

I even drew a dark and gritty comic about it.

YouTube's other commenters didn't get the joke.

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The Wanderer's avatar

Yeah, I can see Bluto as an Anarchist.

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Daniel's avatar

I had him meet Lorca.

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The Wanderer's avatar

Nice! Did he encounter Orwell, as well?

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Daniel's avatar

Missed him, but Orwell and Laurie Lee both heard about him being there. He was eventually a target of McCarthy in the fifties during the Red and Lavender Scares. "Popeye" supported him financially as much as he could.

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Mr Canoehead/M Tête-Canoë's avatar

That's why sometimes he was called Brutus rather than Bluto

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A. M. Jordan's avatar

He died in the arms of his lover, Peg-Leg Pete.

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Bobathonic's avatar

Yeah, well. Pearls before swine.

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Aug 8, 2023
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Jeffery Campbell's avatar

You want to tangle with people? Go and comment on an opera singer’s video. Jesus, it’s an angry mob full of people who are doing to die on the hill of whatever diva/divo they fervently admire. Also, it appears that the true “golden age” of singing is just before the one we are currently in - and it moves by the decade. Love Maria Callas? Meh, you should have heard Amelia Galli-Curci. It’s endless, it’s very highly partisan, and it’s wildly entertaining.

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Edith Prickly's avatar

I took singing lessons for a couple of years and found out that actual singers think Maria Callas is waaaaay overrated. I personally find her voice very harsh - but that's me. I think it was her looks and acting ability that people responded to.

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Daniel's avatar

Weird. You don't normally associate opera and intense emotions dramatically expressed.

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Aug 8, 2023
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Aug 8, 2023
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Beanz&Berryz's avatar

The finger spread of cat paws is notoriously short.

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Aug 8, 2023
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Robert Eckert's avatar

A review of Portrait of a Lady: "It is very Jamesian, which is to say: nothing happens. I mean: nothing at all. And it takes so long not to happen. Finally, something seems to be about to happen, so the book ends abruptly."

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𝔅𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔷𝔢𝔟𝔲𝔟𝔟𝔞's avatar

So... the original "Seinfeld"?

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Carstonio's avatar

What workout routine would you need to have arms like Popeye’s, where his upper arms are like pipe cleaners while his lower arms are grossly overdeveloped?

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Rachel Avery's avatar

I had a friend in highschool who got arms like that kneading pizza dough at Little Caesars.

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LosFelizGuy's avatar

Its from the spinach!

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Otis Fuentes's avatar

Oh of course! How could we miss that, it's as canon as Kirk shagging green chicks.

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Amanda Rez's avatar

He actually has ruptured biceps which gives you the big bulk and the upper arm skinniness - we literally call it the popeye effect in describing it to patients (I work in ortho) and in notes 😁

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Edith Prickly's avatar

I am torn between being delighted that Popeye arms are real and sympathy for the people with ruptured biceps.

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Daniel's avatar

From the little I know, forearm workouts involve lots of twisting weights from the wrist so presumably he turned the propeller shaft on a steam ship by hand.

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Otis Fuentes's avatar

Excellent question!

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Bobathonic's avatar

It's all botox injections.

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Aug 8, 2023
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BlueSpot's avatar

The pre-war Popeye cartoons were the best ones made. The stuff from the 50s and later were pure shit: bad animation, bad dialog, bad story line.

Listen very closely to the background conversations in the old Popeye cartoons (best through headphones), and there's a lot of adult discussion going on that's hard to catch otherwise.

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Diane's Less Hostile Username's avatar

I had such a crush on Bluto!

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Jeffery Campbell's avatar

Me too! It’s daddy bears for me!

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Vileaxxe's avatar

🎶and he’s laaarge….whoooaaahho….I have to squeeze him each niiiight to keep him warrrrrm🎶

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Aug 8, 2023
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BlueSpot's avatar

It's like Barnacle Bill, not a good person but the women are crazy about him.

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Vileaxxe's avatar

Don’t know what to tell you, man. Popeye’s a great guy. Not taking anything away from him. But Bluto’s hot.

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Aug 8, 2023
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Diane's Less Hostile Username's avatar

WHAT?! I'll kick him in the votebag!

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PRW's avatar

You had me at 'The Power of Connection with Gin' ...

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Andrew Coleman's avatar

"The Parks, whose lawsuit doesn’t specify their original nationality, have operated Ami Sushi for 17 years."

Really, Willamette Weekly? Not only does that no matter one bit in this instance since they've owned and operated that restaurant for 17 years, but even ignoring that, y'all should surely be capable of recognizing "Kwang Cheol Park and Young Ho Park" as being Korean names, and inferring from Kwang's text messages to that turd of a neighbor, that English isn't his native language, which would lead sane people to assume they're first generation immigrants that have been here for a long time trying to get their part of the American Dream.

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DJ Teetop's avatar

I've been through so much in the last year. A lesser man would have learned some humility from all of it.

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LuluBelle's avatar

I'm starting to wonder if Florida's state government has a little bit of a mafia problem.

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Daniel O'Riordan's avatar

It's Special Election Day in Ohio. The Republicans' special election is going to go down in flames. The last day of early voting reported lines of up to two hours to vote.

Connie Schulz on Rachel Maddow summed things up nicely. A 20 million dollar stunt.

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Emil Muz's avatar

I walked to the Community Center (uphill both ways, honest to God) and did my part. No line but there were 2-3 people casting ballots consistently.

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ziggywiggy's avatar

I have so much anxiety about this dental appointment. I'd rather have my teeth pulled again over having to get this mold made. Today will start with a 13th attempt at the upper. It has to(will) be the lucky one. I don't know how many more hours of this I can endure. Hoping to report later that this was smooth, quick and easy.

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cmd Human Scum's avatar

DeSantis' new campaign mgr.

Uthmeier has served as DeSantis chief of staff since October 2021 and worked as the governor’s general counsel before he became his top aide. He has been involved in some of the governor’s most high profile initiatives, including the controversial program to transport migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last year.

Uthmeier, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, also worked as a senior adviser to former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/08/ron-desantis-replaces-campaign-manager-00110253

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Jeremiah Brewer's avatar

I like Dean Phillips but he needs to stop this. He could be the next MN governor - stirring trouble in the party is a fool’s move.

Taylor Swift for President 2028

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Up Here in the Clouds's avatar

My city today is electing all new city leaders. It's kind of exciting because in 2020 voters added to the city charter term limits of no more than 2 terms per position. The former limit was 5 terms.I voted for it because the same people stayed in leadership, just swapping titles or positions for as long as i can remember. Our mayor got term limited and could not run again. The motherfucker is on his 3rd or 4th lawsuit demanding he be put on the ballot anyway, because we stupid voters didn't know we were keeping his ass from running. So far he has lost every one. Last week he filed a federal lawsuit alledging his civil rights have been violated. Today, election day, he filed another federal lawsuit demanding today's election for mayor be invalidated and rerun as a special election with his name added. Words cannot describe how badly I hope a federal judge slaps his ass down and make him repay taxpayers for the millions wasted in his lawsuits.

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Robert Eckert's avatar

Is this Warren, the Safe and Clean City?

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Lascauxcaveman's avatar

Lol. Dude needs to get a job.

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Up Here in the Clouds's avatar

I am not joking when I say I'm pretty sure he's only worked as an elected official in my town. He's in his late 70s, and I can remember him out campaigning as a kid in the 80s. He only ran for mayor because he had cycled through every other elected seat and term limited out. At this point dude needs to retire and get a new hobby!

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CotN's avatar

In case this:https://www.salon.com/2023/08/07/jk-rowling-transphobia-museum-of-pop-culture/

gets covered here, please know that MoPOP does not have a "Harry Potter exhibit" but a few Harry Potter artifacts in their Fantasy exhibit. They didn't remove the Harry Potter artifacts, just JK Rowling's(s's, eses, isisisisss) name from the placards. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame is a silly thing that Paul Allen made up and she is still in there. Most of what you see in these articles are right-wing panic talking points, even the Salon article gets A LOT wrong because of the former. But MoPOP is killing it with pissing off bigots this year. Removing JK Rowlings name from a couple of artifacts AND they host a drag day camp for kids?? Chef's kiss.

Feel bad for the worker's though. There have been vaguely to outright threatening letters sent to the museum and their staff as well as the trans employee who wrote the blog post (which is very delightful and funny) is getting threats and hate thrown their way.

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David N. Brown's avatar

OT movies, finally watching Big Trouble In Little China, on public transportation. Pretty good, but wonky as Hell. "The Chinese have a lot of Hells..."

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Daniel O'Riordan's avatar

Kurt Russell deliberately channeled John Wayne in Big Trouble the way he channeled Clint Eastwood in Escape From New York.

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RefillingThorsBeer's avatar

it is hot outside.... stoooooopid hot. heat index by 3 p.m. expected to reach 115F. Humidity is currently 73%. We are required to wear long sleeve FR uniforms along with other safety gear, including a tyvek oversuit when handling certain materials. It is lethal even if you are just resting, but working in it can get deadly quick. Stay cool, stay hydrated, take frequent breaks, and stay the HELL out of direct sunlight.

I look at the bright side. In Colorado, people have to PAY to go to the sauna....

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Lefty Wright's avatar

I put too much faith in Robert Mueller, thinking we were not hearing much because he ran a tight ship. But he avoided the main issues and primary characters, failed to press executive privilege, and failed to charge some of the top officials like Trump Junior. Saying someone who supposedly has a top job in a multibillion dollar organization who contacts attorneys almost daily in anything that crosses his mind was too stupid to know trying to enlist Russian officials for election help was illegal. Something a part time Clinton volunteer questioned when someone tried to set them up by saying they were Canadian and wanted to donate $50. Then shut everything down as soon as Bill Barr became AG.

But Mueller worked at light speed compared to Garland. I heard the same excuses about Garland running a tight, leakproof ship. But we heard no whining from Trump or his associates about Garland being mean to them, something we heard the minute the 1/6 congressional committee just mentioned their name. And despite dozens of journalists and other people checking court dockets we heard of no motions, subpoenas, or grand juries from the DOJ.

What really pissed me off was when I heard Garland repeatedly say he would go where the evidence leads. To which I said if you don't aggressively seek out evidence you will go nowhere, and that being overly cautious to avoid whining from the GOP results in paralysis, and the GOP will still whine.

There is nothing Jack Smith has done about the insurrection on 1/6 that Garland could not have done 18 months earlier. Even the stolen documents case could have been pushed up at least six months, probably more since NARA and the DOJ dicked around with Trump on it for a year before issuing a search warrant.

As a final note, Garland has still not opened a page on the obstruction charges listed by Mueller, the possible financial crimes Italy reported to John Durham, or any of the other corrupt acts we saw for four years by Trump, his family, and various assiciates. Including several cabinet level officials who resigned under suspicion of misuse of office. It's like he has swept everything about Trump before November 2020 under the rug, erasing it from history. Meaning we will be seeing that corruption again too.

This does afflict too many older Democratic politicians who just don't seem to grasp how evil the current GOP has become. Including Joe Biden, Chuck Shumer, and Dick Durbin. The GOP has always been party over country but at least they were not overwhelmingly corrupt and more than willing to ignore the intent of the constitution, as we saw with McConnell. We don't have to cheat or lie, but we have many tools to aggressively fight against the GOP that are sitting in a closet unused. Getting the DOJ off their collective asses and investigating political corruption is one of them. Replacing Republicans there, including Chris Wray, who headed the FBI as they ignored the increasing on line noise pushing violence on 1/6/2021 is at the top of the list. Along with Merrick Garland. Of course, that means the MAGA minions will whine and that might upset Merrick, who hates being called partisan even if it is partisan for accountability.

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goCatgo's avatar

City leaders seemed to have figured out TS and $$$ a bit maybe.

I know almost every week some city was declaring "Taylor Swift Day" and putting out directions and stuff and welcoming everyone for a safe and wonderful visit.

I read Cincinatti in particular realized a lot more people were coming than the stadium had capacity for, so the City said that people could be in the parking lot, to the concourse, and up and down the river.

Just everyone please stay safe, be polite and courteous and you will have the time of your life.

And Welcome!

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𝔅𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔷𝔢𝔟𝔲𝔟𝔟𝔞's avatar

Why it takes forever and a day to get a fallen tree limb carted away. Actual message from the city:

"NYC Parks created a work order for the tree condition. Please note that addressing this work can take up to a year or more depending on the higher priority work identified during this period and resources available to address this work. NYC Parks work priority categories range from Category A through D, with A being the most critical and time-sensitive. We will complete all work in Category A first and address work in lower priority categories in accordance with available resources." [To what category has this particular issue has been assigned? They don't tell you. Assume D.]

"For more information about the Tree Risk Management Program, visit the NYC Urban Forest page on the NYC Parks website at nyc.gov/parks/trees. Alternatively, you may choose complete the work yourself by hiring an independent contractor. The contractor must complete a Tree Work Permit application on the NYC Parks website at nyc.gov/parks/trees." [Applications will be processed, I imagine, in order of time sensitivity.]

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Lascauxcaveman's avatar

Tell someone with a chainsaw about it, and it'll be gone in a flash. Firewood is expensive in NYC.

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Richard S's avatar

Back in the day when the political bosses ran the place, all you had to do was tell your local precinct captain that there was a tree branch down, and it would be gone the next day.

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