Cambridge councilors decree: Woodman, spare that tree

Your supposed rage-filled city tree warden could do that even without this ordinance. In fact, in Massachusetts, the most you can really do about a tree on your neighbor's property that is giving you menacing looks or whatever is to prune the part of the tree that overhangs your property.

There's even a name for it: The Massachusetts Rule, which contrasts with the Hawaii Rule, in which you can take action against a neighbor's tree. Somebody tried to get the SJC to overturn the Massachusetts Rule. The court refused, just last year, in fact, in a decision that concluded changing the rule could lead to the sort of angry viciousness you impute to the lowly tree warden:

The Massachusetts rule today, just as it did when [the 1931 case] was decided, may prevent unnecessary legal harassment from neighbors who merely have an axe to grind for reasons other than purported tree problems.