Who Is Paying for the New Laurels Along Manor Road

The stretch of Manor Road between Edgemere Road and Jackson Street has spent October being cleared. By early in the month, the Village reported that the trees and bushes burned along the LIRR fence line in April were essentially removed and preparations for new plantings were underway. The replacements were ordered for delivery in batches of 100.

What goes back in is a different kind of planting from what burned, and the Village is not the one paying for it.

A Strip That Was Never Planned

The fire started in the overgrowth that collects along railroad fences. According to News 12 Long Island's April 14 report, the fire stretched nearly three-quarters of a mile along the tracks after a transformer explosion knocked down power lines and lit dry brush. Garden City Fire Chief Jonathan Parrella told News 12 that the downed line set off multiple fires. Firefighters found between a dozen and two dozen small pockets burning.

The fence itself turned the fire into a technical problem. The fence along the tracks is electrified, so crews had to get the power shut off before firefighters could work safely. One Manor Road resident described the moment to News 12 as "just a loud boom that popped off at the end of the block." He said he saw the wires drop and set the brush on fire, which then ran "down to New Hyde Park Road."

The impact went past the fence line. PSEG Long Island reported 350 customers without power, and the MTA said train service was restored with some delays remaining. No injuries were reported.

The Garden City Police Department's daily update for April 14 gives the clearest boundaries of the damage: "the LIRR fence line on Manor Rd. from Edgemere Rd. to Jackson St." The same log records officers assisting the Fire Department with a separate call for a reignited brush fire on Manor Road that day.

Sources describe the burned stretch slightly differently. News 12 put it at nearly three-quarters of a mile. Mayor Ed Finneran's October update says the fires "destroyed trees and bushes stretching nearly a mile long." Either way, most of a mile of trackside green was lost in one afternoon.

Why the Bill Went to the Utility

The cause matters because it decided who pays. The police log puts it plainly: "The fire was caused by PSEGLI overhead wires that fell due to a damaged pole line. The wires landed on the fence, which became electrified, igniting the brush." News 12's account from the fire chief points to a blown transformer that brought down a major power line. The wording differs, but both accounts trace the fire to PSEG Long Island equipment.

That gave the Village grounds for a damage claim, and the claim paid out. Here is how the mayor's October 2 update put it:

"Subsequently, we made a claim to PSEG to cover the damages. I'm happy to report that after considerable work, primarily by Ralph Suozzi and the Rec team, we received $170,000 to cover same."

At its September 24, 2026 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved spending that payment on contractors to remove the damaged trees and shrubs and on new plantings and irrigation. When Superintendent of Recreation and Parks Matt Nordt brought the irrigation proposal to the Board on October 8, he said the money "will come from what the village received from the $170,000 PSEG Long Island claim."

So the restoration along Manor Road is being paid for out of the utility's claim payment. It is not competing for money in the Village's regular budget.

What $170,000 Is Buying

The Village has laid out the work in public meetings and in the mayor's update. Here is the order of operations:

1. Removal. The burned trees and plants came out first. By October 2, the mayor reported that removal had "essentially been completed" and that preparations for planting were underway.
2. A tree contractor. Nordt told the Board the Village finalized its contract with a tree contractor on October 8, with work expected to start October 12 or 13.
3. Irrigation. A $22,500 proposal from Maccarone Plumbing Inc. of Glen Cove covers irrigation service along Manor Road.
4. The plants. About 300 Skip Laurels were ordered, delivered in batches of 100. Nordt said in early October that the plants were already at the nursery.

The irrigation contract alone is about 13 percent of the claim payment. That leaves roughly $147,500 for removal, the tree contractor and the plants themselves. The Village has not published a line-by-line split of that remainder.

From Fence-Line Brush to a Planted Row

News 12 and the police log both describe brush along the fence, with trees and bushes mixed in. Nobody had planted it as a row. What goes back is about 300 of a single plant, ordered from a nursery, put in by a contracted crew and backed by a watering system the Village is paying to install.

Nordt described the sequence to the Board in practical terms: "Once everything in the area is torn down, we are going to go in and clean it all up, making that space nice for the plantings. Then we will be getting in there to plant right away."

That makes the trackside edge of Manor Road one of the few places in the village where a fire led to a designed planting. Neighbors who have lived with an informal tangle along the fence will see a uniform row of the same plant along the stretch from Edgemere Road toward Jackson Street. The irrigation contract means the new row is being set up to be watered once it is in the ground.

How the Months Lined Up

What This Week Looks Like on Manor Road

As of the October 8 Board meeting, the end of October was still a target, not a finished date. "By the end of October, we should be good to go," Nordt told the Board, as reported by Garden City News. If the work holds to that target, the last batches should be going in during the final days of the month. Until they are, some sections may still show bare ground.

The east end of the burn line has its own construction going on. At Edgemere Road and Stewart Avenue, Garden City Fire Station No. 2 is being built and expanded. Superintendent of Building Giuseppe Giovanniello reported at the October 8 meeting that the exterior walls were complete and steel for the extension had arrived. Trustee Vinny Muldoon said windows are expected in November so interior mechanical work can continue through the winter. Giovanniello told the Board the contractor aims to have the building closed up, with the walls secure and the roof on, before winter.

For updates as the work wraps up, the most direct sources are the mayor's periodic updates on the Village of Garden City website and coverage of Board of Trustees meetings in Garden City News.

Projects like the Manor Road replanting change how a block looks and feels, and those details matter when it's time to describe a home to a buyer. If you live near Manor Road or Edgemere Road and want to know how this fall's village work fits into the story of your street, Kevin Leatherman and the Leatherman Homes team follow these projects closely. Let's Talk.