People with allergies should have the right to clean air. People with asthma should be able to go out without being constantly bombarded with irritating pollen from their city's street trees. There are thousands of perfectly fine, beautiful, hardy choices of trees, shrubs, and even lawns that are now known not to cause allergies. These are what our agencies should be planting. Some people are hard-headed.
Allergies are perfectly for real.
Deaths from asthma are all too real, too. Many cities now have tree committees that decide which trees can be taken down. Generally they only consider the health of the tree and whether or not its roots are cracking the sidewalks. I would like to see the tree committees consider the sex of these trees, too. If the tree in question is a male, pollen-producer, I say, let them take it down.