June/July
2004
It’s Not
Easy Being a Street Tree
By Catherine Clyne
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Ever wonder about the trees along New York’s
sidewalks? You know, those brave unappreciated souls that try to stretch
their
limbs into the air and eke out a little greenness in the city streets?
I recently went through the arduous process of searching for a new
apartment and became familiar with some of the jargon used to describe
desirable
locations. One key phrase that kept popping up is “tree-lined” street.
After spending time checking out different streets, I think I know
what it means now: some blocks have glorious green canopies arching
overhead; while others are just stark, dirty concrete as far as the
eye can see. Obviously, people would prefer living on a tree-lined
block.
It may not seem like it but street trees are actually on the city’s
agenda. In fact, you can get a tree planted in front of your home for
free. All you need is written permission from the property owner. And
… some time (in some cases, a couple years). Or, you can “adopt”
a neighborhood tree by taking care of it to keep it healthy and thriving.
This includes maintaining healthy soil and putting up guards to keep
dogs from doing their business (yes, sigh, dog urine is actually toxic
to trees). But I’m getting ahead of myself. Why should people
care about city trees and greenery in the first place?
A Little Green’ll do Ya Good
Well, for starters, trees and plants are nice. They calm the mind and
sooth the soul. They offer refuge to local critters and help protect
us from the elements. Now that I’ve moved, I have a half-hour
walk to work, and I’m discovering the best most heavily tree-lined
blocks to walk along when it’s raining or the sun’s beating
down.
But there’s a lot more to trees than just that. When you crunch
information into a bottom line, things get quite surprising. A survey
released last year found that New York City street trees are far more
valuable than anyone imagined. A pilot project of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s Forest Service gathered detailed data in Hunts
Point (Bronx), the Lower East Side, and New Brighton (Staten Island)
and discovered that 322 neighborhood trees were worth more than $1 million,
with each tree valued at more than $3,000. Part of their value is that
they remove and store more than 200 metric tons of carbon and remove
more than 500 pounds of pollutants each year—and that’s
just 322 trees. (See
www.oasisnyc.net for the data, including maps of the trees surveyed.)
For those who already know trees are valuable in-and-of themselves,
this is a real duh! moment. But giving a sticker price to a tree tells
decision-makers that they really are valuable, and it gives residents
leverage to get trees and green spaces into their neighborhoods. And
with an urban forest of some 2.5 million trees, it’s incentive
to treat our green treasure with just a little more care.
We know the rainforests of the world are the fragile lungs of the planet;
but clearly, city trees are just as important. Observations of surgery
patients in a Pennsylvania hospital indicated that those with window
views of natural scenes, namely trees with foliage, recovered faster
and required less medication than those with windows looking out on
a brick wall. Prisoners with views of greenery have been found to require
less medical care and reported fewer symptoms of stress and anxiety
than inmates in cells with no view of the natural world. Somewhere
deep
in our psyche, greenery has a profound healing effect, and whether
or not we’re conscious of it, there’s a natural thirst
for trees and greenery in our lives.
So, we’ve established that green really is good for people. This
brings us back to city trees and how to get one planted in front of
your home. To bring health and beauty to your neck of the urban forest,
here are some steps to take to green up your hood.
Getting a Tree Planted for
Free
Well, you’ve got to work if you’re going to get something
for nothing, and of course, there’s bureaucracy and paperwork
involved. The first step is to get written permission from the property
owner. Then, contact your local Community Board and ask for a Street
Tree Request Form. To find your Community Board’s contact information,
visit the official New York City Government website (www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/cau/html/cb/cb_find.shtml).
Your request will be turned over to the Department of Parks and Recreation
for planting during the appropriate season at no cost to you—in
due course.
The reason it can take up to three years for the city to plant a tree
is they’re in high demand. There’s a long list of neighborhoods
that are most in need of greenery and have little in terms of resources.
It doesn’t take reams of research papers to determine the demographic
most in need: low-income areas where the majority of residents are not
white.
Naturally, if you make noise, things might move a little faster: neighbors
have banded together to keep pressure on which has made authorities
attentive to their block. But if you’re not willing to wait or
make a stink, you can speed things up by, of course, forking over some
greenery yourself: you can either pay the Parks Department to plant
your tree in the next planting season or…do it yourself.
DIY Sidewalk Tree
For DIY tree planting, you first have to obtain the proper permit from
the Central Forestry Office of the Department of Parks and Recreation
(www.nycgovparks.org; 718-760-6794). It doesn’t matter if you’re
doing it through your co-op or condo, community group or block association,
local merchants group or just in front of a private home, you’ll
need a permit.
And you can’t plant just any old tree. The city has a long list
of approved tree species, which they’ll provide or you can find
online. A little research and common sense on your part will determine
whether or not the tree will flourish. You should consider the conditions
of the soil and the immediate environment to help decide what kind of
tree to plant (there are tips for this on the list of approved trees).
Keep in mind they will also need to inspect the planting location, which
is a whole other issue. If there’s an existing tree pit, meaning
a specific patch of sidewalk that’s been cleared of concrete,
you’re on easy street and you can skip to the next step. But if
you are creating a new tree pit, you will have to get a street opening
permit from the Department of Transportation (which will cost $135)
and you’ll have to remove the concrete at your own expense and
according to DOT guidelines.
Then, you can plant your tree, although Trees New York, a tree-planting
advocacy group, recommends you hire a professional landscaper to do
this for you. Trees New York estimates the cost of the whole tree planting
process at $500-$800. Also, be aware that all trees planted within the
city’s “right of way” (both street trees and some
lawn trees) become the property of the city after a certain period,
regardless of who plants them or pays for any planting procedures.
You can also plant a tree through Trees New York, which has privately
funded planting projects that have substantially greened the East Village—Tompkins
Square Park and East Third Street—and the Lower East Side.
A third option is to help trees thrive by adopting a neighborhood tree
(see flyer) or becoming a citizen pruner. Trees, especially young ones,
need a little tlc to make sure they grow to become strong, hearty city
dwellers. With 2.5 million city trees and a declining Parks Department
budget, the trees need all the help they can get. Trees New York, in
conjunction with the Parks Department, offers a twelve-hour citizen
pruner licensing course—eight hours of classroom time, including
basic tree biology and a primer in NYC tree species, and four hours
of field instruction. Their fall course begins in late September and
costs only $90. Not a bad price for a bit of green goodness on our city
streets.
Community Gardens
Another way to integrate green into your life is to visit and support
your local parks and community gardens. A great way to explore 100 gardens
in the five boroughs that are open to the public is the Garden Guide:
New York City, a pocket-sized (but surprisingly thick) little book
by Nancy Berner and Susan Lowry with lovely color photos by Joseph De
Sciose ($19.95; The Little Bookroom). Many New York City community gardens
were rescued from trash-strewn rubble by local residents and are lovingly
cared for. To find your local community garden and learn how to become
an active member, contact Green Thumb (www.greenthumbnyc.org,
where you can link to an excellent database of the hundreds of NYC’s
gardens; 212-788-8070).
To learn more about Trees New York, visit www.treesny.com
or call (212) 227-1887.
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