A hacksaw-wielding homeowner last week razed a dozen city-owned trees in Queens to improve his million-dollar view,joining other residents greedily expanding their own vistas, too, activists say.

The locals along a stunning stretch of 130th Street in College Point have become notorious for disrupting the waterfront area around Powell’s Cove Park, destroying public greenery under the guise of weeding out invasive plants and improving the parkland, according to preservationists.

Queens Manuel Rueda admitted to cutting down a dozen Parks Department trees as part of his mission to remove bamboo creeping up this house. James Messerschmidt

“It’s become a bit of a Wild West back there,” said Kat Cervino, president of the Coastal Preservation Network, who witnessed the latest alleged environmental assault firsthand last week.

Cervino said she was preparing for a volunteer beach clean-up in the area when she spotted the accused elderly scofflaw.

The man had wiped out at least 12 trees, leaving just their sad trunks peeking out of the ground after the vegetation assassination, Cervino said — calling the scene “astonishing in the worst possible way.”

But the homeowner, Manuel Rueda, 85, told The Post he was simply clearing a dense and towering cluster of bamboo that was threatening the foundation of his waterfront abode — which is surrounded by houses ranging from $830,000 and $1,500,000.

Rueda said he made numerous requests for the Parks Department to remove the bamboo but was denied. James Messerschmidt

The dozen trees around the bamboo that were hacked in the process were collateral damage, he said.

“I sent to the city so many files asking for help with the bamboo — it was high like the building, and it destroys the foundation of the house,” said Rueda, who has owned his home for 11 years.

“It’s so dangerous. It goes into the foundation. I cut it out,” added the homeowner, who said the two-story-tall bamboo rapidly accelerated toward his property over the past three years.

He claimed the bamboo also poses safety hazards to neighborhood children who play in the area and was making the public walking path too narrow.

Rueda, here in his backyard, admitted that clearer waterfront views were the “second reason” he razed the two-story bamboo. James Messerschmidt

But Rueda did admit that his waterfront views also played a part in his actions.

“It was a second reason,” he said.

“These people, they do the same. So I say, ‘Why not?’” Rueda said of his neighbors. “I ended up doing something that the city has to do.”

Rueda said he sent this picture of the growing bamboo to the Parks Department. Courtesy of Manuel Rueda

When Parks denied his request, Rueda took matters into his own hands. Stephen Yang for the New York Post

Other neighbors frequently cut down the parks vegetation, as seen in this picture. James Messerschmidt

The Parks Department told The Post that Powell’s Cove Park has suffered from numerous tree-cutting incidents in the past few years but that no one has been charged or cited over them.

Cervino theorized that the secluded nature of the neighborhood and the park offers homeowners the opportunity to “just keep getting away with it.

“Back in that area for the last few years, there have been increasing violations that are slowly chipping away at that Parks Department property,” the preservationist said. “People have been expanding their backyards, building concrete walls, running their piping through there, they’re cutting down trees, planting their own trees.”

Removing city-owned trees is illegal and punishable by up to $15,000 and jail time. Stephen Yang for the New York Post

The state Department of Conservation, which has jurisdiction over the involved wetlands, said the vegetation along the waterfront is especially vital in reducing flooding by absorbing rainwater, slowing down runoff with its canopy and root systems and stabilizing soil to prevent erosion.

Destroying city and state park property is a serious offense.

Anyone caught removing vegetation in a regulated tidal wetland or its adjacent area could be slapped with a fine of up to $10,000 per day per violation and be required to replant the damage, according to the DEC.

The city Parks Department could also hand down an additional fine of up to $15,000 and/or a year in jail for more serious offenses.

A Parks rep emphasized that citizens should never take work on city trees into their own hands — and that they need a permit to conduct any work on city property.

“Our trees are a vital resource and an enormous value to our city. Damaging or destroying them is illegal and represents not only a loss of natural resources but also undermines the efforts of Parks staff and volunteers who care for our outdoor spaces,” the representative said.