New street trees on Troutman Street between Central and Wilson Avenues. The Parks Dept. recently planted hundreds of new trees on the surrounding blocks. — Photo by Diego Cupolo
Lately, Bushwick is known for its backyard and loft farms, community gardens, and new farmer’s markets, but until recently the streets of one of its densest sections has remained virtually treeless. Now, thanks to the intervention of local gardening organization Trees Not Trash, tens of blocks in this central area have seen hundreds of trees planted along their length.
It’s no Carnegie library system, but as privately-funded public goods go, this is one that could also pay off for generations. The last trees went in this week on Central Avenue and include several kinds of oak, linden, a Japanese variety called Zelkova, and even flowering cherry.
Some of these trees can reach a height of one hundred feet, says TNT founder Kate Gilliam, and are specially selected for their fast growth and drought tolerance.
“This is a good thing for street trees,” adds Gilliam. “You don’t want a sapling that takes forever to mature because the mean streets of Brooklyn wait for no small tree!”
The organization requested “blanket planting” of trees on Starr, Troutman, Jefferson, and Melrose Streets, and Central Avenue intersecting these streets. So far, according to Gilliam, there are about one thousand new trees in Bushwick since her organization began petitioning the city.
MillionTrees NYC (MTNYC), which supplied the trees, is a project of Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, which seeks to increase New York City ‘s quality of life. The mayor himself has donated millions from his personal fortune toward the project, and NYRP is funded through corporate and individual donations. MillionTrees, with the help of staff from the NYC Parks Dept., has so far planted about 315,000 trees throughout the city: sixty percent on public property such as sidewalks, roadways, and public housing, and forty percent on private property. Homeowners can pick up two free trees at the next MTNYC Tree Giveaway in Cypress Hills, Saturday, May 15, 10am-4pm at Blessed Sacrament Church, 198 Euclid Avenue.
Gilliam reminds that though the trees are very hardy varieties, they do need stewardship after they are planted.
Parks Dept. staff “really rely on the community to step up and take care of their trees, as they simply don’t have enough staff to care for the thousands of trees in NYC,” she said. “Trees Not Trash takes care of as many as we can, and our young gardeners all adopted a tree to take care of too, but more help is needed!”
To officially “adopt” a tree, you can register with MTNYC and receive free training and tools, but anyone can take it upon themselves to care for a neglected tree, even if it’s just removing trash from the pit or giving it water in a dry spell.
In addition to the various initiatives to plant street trees in front of existing buildings, the Dept. of Buildings now requires new construction to include street trees before plan approval.
mopar May 6th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Well, that’s very exciting. They will look very nice in a few years. Of course, you know trees are bad because they provide places for muggers to hide and they grow into sewer lines.
Joseph May 6th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Just to reiterate – if you have a tree in front of your building, please water it regularly. Several gallons once a week if there is no rain. This is especially important to help get it established in the first year or two. Also, if you can do something to keep people from walking in the pit, such as a fence, it will keep the soil from getting compacted. This will help the tree get air and water to its roots.
Thanks to TNT, NYC Parks, NYRP, Million Trees and Mayor Bloomberg. This is probably one of the simplest and most effective things that can be done to improve our neighborhood.
matt TnT May 6th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
trees trees trees…!!!! coming back in large numbers to the region that was first named by the dutch for it’s forested nature. a big thanks to everyone that has helped out in the growing number of community gardens, farmer’s markets, rooftop decks and green zones >! and big ups to ian jack (from parks and rec) who has been instrumental in ushering the many hundreds of new leafy residents into our neighborhood.
by the by, ian will be teaching a free “tree steward” class for at the bushwick branch of the brooklyn library on monday the 17th of may. come check out our new garden project behind the library, see the new trees he helped us plant, and learn how to get involved in the care and health of new street trees in bushwick.
Paul Cox May 6th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Our block is loving it. Infinite thanks to all of you who worked for this.
Jef May 6th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
yeah, now these mulch squares catch all the garbage the people leave behind, it looks shitty to me.
Matt May 7th, 2010 at 10:19 am
All well and good, definitely a positive but…when are they coming back to finish them up?! Huge tree pit holes need to be cobblestoned/bricked in because as they are now, they take up way too much sidewalk space.
Jeremy Sapienza May 7th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Yeah at first I was hoping they wouldn’t cobblestone them — that often looks cheesy because they use the sparkly granite ones. But now you realize just how much sidewalk space it takes away when you have to step off into the street or walk on the curb to jockey past someone else in some narrower stretches. Bricks or solid-colored cobbles would look best.
Lauren May 9th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
I attended one of the tree stewardship classes offered by MillionTreesNYC. It was very informative, I highly recommend it, taught me plenty of things I never thought of before. Like the proper way to build a tree guard. Tree guards are a good thing but its very important they are open at the bottom since tree pits offer natural irrigation in our mostly paved over city, a place for all the rainwater to drain into so our sewer systems are not overwhelmed during rain (and end up flowing into our waterways). Also the pits were intentionally made big to give the trees adequate space to grow so you don’t want to fill them with bricks or cobblestones. I adopted a tree after attending and hope my neighbors do the same!
Matt May 10th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Interesting, Lauren. But there is no way the pits need to be as large as they are for these trees. So TNT, if you are responsible for these, then you best be filling in the holes, just like the city does. There will still plenty of space for the trees to grow big n’ healthy even with cobblin’.
pamarama May 17th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
wow that’s great. bringing the bush back to bushwick lol
Deborah May 18th, 2010 at 9:53 am
It is strange how the surrounding blocks in my neighboorhood are and have received trees but Decatur Street bt. Thomas Boyland and Broadway haven’t. What is the process …… should phone calls be made?
Cyn May 20th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
I am amazed that people are so concerned with the size of the tree pits and how it might inconvenience them. How they might have to actually hveer a few feet out of a direct line in their day. Maybe they don’t realize the trees are not being planted for looks. While they look nice that is a matter of personal taste. What is most important is the environmental impact on the air and temperature quality. If you can’t breathe the air without getting sick (and many of us can’t on bad days here in NYC) life is pretty impossible. Humans wrecked Bushwick for their own profit and created an environment inhospitable to healthy life of all kind. It is time to repair this part of the earth all we can. Be thankful cobbleheads, that here in Bushwick, our mess is more managable than BP’s in the gulf. Doing things the RIGHT way may be inconvenient at times but there is a reason in the long run that they are considered best. Don’t be lazy people.
Matt May 20th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
And why are you being an apologist for a great job that has been left undone? Small and/or big picture – it has nothing to do with a bleeding gulf.
Professional Alternative May 20th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
And here I thought humans wrecked Bushwick for sport.
But seriously, the trees are important for air quality, nobody disputes this. But the sidewalks are not for trees, they are for people. On sidewalks that are only two squares wide, it seems they could have gotten away with narrower pits — instead, some areas have less than three feet to maneuver. A bitch when you have a double-wide stroller from one direction and a gaggle of teens on the other. They end up stomping on the tree pits. I’d personally prefer street space be taken for trees, but the minority who drives makes sure NYC remains a car-centric city.