(Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A New Jersey man is facing steep fines after reportedly chopping down 32 of his neighbor’s trees — without a permit — for a better view of New York City, according to Morris County officials.
The borough of Kinnelon’s arborist, John Linson, told NorthJersey.com that he issued fines to Grant Haber–one for each tree the outlet reports. Haber allegedly is the person who ordered his neighbor’s trees chopped.
While Haber may be on the hook for an estimated $32,000, it’s estimated it will cost upwards of $1.5 million to replant the destroyed trees. The high-end estimate comes from an alleged friend of arborist Linson, Sam Glickman. Same wrote about the legal matter in a now-viral Twitter thread.
Glickman claimed the fines could amount to $400,000 due to the borough also fining the two contractors Haber hired to cut the trees.
“A friend who is a municipal arborist just called to tell me about a guy who cut down 32 big mature trees on his neighbor’s NJ property to get a better view of NYC,” read the first tweet, which had 3.2 million views as of Wednesday (June 28). “He hired a guy who hired another guy. Cut them down and left the debris there.”
Glickman says it took the arborist 12 hours to write out all 96 violations “by hand” to the three offending parties.
“The fine per tree is $1000, so the guy probably thought he was going to just pay a $32k fine. But the arborist wrote violations to all 3 parties, 96 in all (by hand, took him 12 hours), and there’s a provision requiring the replanting of like trees ‘of the same size.'”
Meanwhile, Linson hinted to NorthJersey.com that Glickman’s $1.5 million replanting estimate was “slightly exaggerated.” The outlet reports that he ultimately refused to comment any further on the matter.
As of Wednesday, it remains unclear whether Haber will also be on the hook for replanting costs.
A Linkedin page for Haber lists him as CEO of American Innovations. According to IMDb, the company develops products to counter munitions and other dangerous devices.
A 2019 episode of the “Right In DC” podcast claims he’s one of America’s foremost experts on improvised explosive devices.
Meanwhile, a 2020 One America News Network segment featuring Haber described him as a counter-terrorism expert.
Haber also reportedly appeared in Michael Moore’s 2004 film “Fahrenheit 9/11” as himself, his IMDb page reads.
He was initially scheduled for a Zoom court hearing on Tuesday (June 27).
However, the hearing was rescheduled for July 18 after Haber’s lawyer requested more time to prepare his case, per NorthJersey.com.
