The city is removing 32 palms from a downtown plaza. Hopefully the "gift link" works. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-jose-circle-of-palms-trees-removal-22396626.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=share-by-email&utm_medium=email

That’s sad , I hate to see palms removed . I couldn’t read the article , subscription required. Harry

Need a subscription to view from the Chronicle.

No paying to read a news article needed here though:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/palm-trees-san-jose-22397300.php


Video of the removal.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm-5dKZOL1s

Oh, sorry, it was supposed to be a gift link but probably doesn’t work on public websites.

Surprised the claim wasn't, 'Risk of Falling Coconuts'. Usually writers have zero topic knowledge.

Thank you @Silas_Sancona , I was able to watch the video and read the article . I wonder what caused this , after so many years . Old age? There are some here in Ventura county that I remember when I was a kid on my Sting Ray , riding down C Street in Oxnard . I would see them swaying in the wind , wondering why they didn’t fall over! They had to be about the same age . I haven’t been back in many years to check on them. I am sure there is a life expectancy. Harry

They really didn’t have a choice. It’s pretty clear in the video that they are dead/dying. It’s not some overzealous city official making a harsh decision. I’m guessing that the crew used dirty equipment in the past to trim them and introduced some pathogen. At least they are testing them before just replanting.

4 hours ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

. I’m guessing that the crew used dirty equipment in the past to trim them and introduced some pathogen. At least they are testing them before just replanting.

If you look over the second to last paragraph in the SFGate article, there's a mention of Pink Rot being noted in some specimens back in the early 2000s. Further spread? / something else being introduced / spread around pathogen-wise could have been the so called " nail in the coffin " that lead to the ' total removal ' decision.

Having watched these ..and most of the other palms installed in / around downtown S.J. go in back in the late 80s / 90s, the one thing i did not realize ..that was mentioned in a Reddit discussion about the removal... is that the specimens installed in the circle, are actually planted in large containers, placed atop an underground parking structure / underground utility maintenance / access space, thus, they're days were already numbered from the day they went in.

Some mention on people being injured by falling fronds there in the reddit discussion as well.

Regardless, as you mention, while it stinks to loose them, in this case at least, the decision wasn't a knee jerk from some " i hate palms " city council person / group of them. It was based on what they were seeing, and weighing that against both public safety ..which the city / county / state is responsible for, and general city- view aesthetics ..These days, i'm sure some council member's inbox would be filled with " What's with the half dead palms at the circle / etc.. " comments.

Better to take the hit of loosing them now, instead of more significant problems later.

While it would be nice to see them replaced w/ other palms ( Something other than Washingtonia, Queens, Med Fans, and/ or Phoenix, please..... ) limited space may limit replacement choice.

Palm- wise? Mules ..and / or maybe some Brahea edulis might look neat though.

Just don't plant anything dumb ..like trees from Asia, Europe, or the eastern U.S.

...And no AI projections of palms interspersed between techie s===== advertisements either.