Tree pit burglers? or just bundlers?

lostingreenwoodhts

An interesting (and I'd be infuriating) posts and follow up on the CCGH listserv from yesterday:

Greetings,

I was stopped this morning by our neighbor Julio on 22nd St/7th Ave. He was told by a neighbor that the two tree pits adjacent to his property received a visit yesterday morning while he was away. It seems the contractor who installed the trees for the city (we assume the same one) came back to check on them, clean up the pit, remulch (all good)...then removed all of the plants we added during our tree pit planting day, replanted them in a container, threw the container in their truck and drove off (NOT GOOD!).

I did a quick survey, and it seems these may be the only two (so far) that have been visited after our clean up and planting day.

While I will be reaching out to Citizens Committee of NYC today (and them I assume to Parks), here's what really irks me:

1. That $$ was lost on 8 or so plants that folks drove hours into NJ to pick up

2. Forget the $$ (we have some left over to replace them), 3 volunteers worked for an hour on cleaning and planting up those tree pits

3. Julio, and his neighbors, adopted the tree pits and have kept them watered, even adding some of their own plants.

What kind of message does this sent to the community from Parks (and their sub-contractors)? While we can assume it was a "mistake" ( I hope) who's to say more pits may be affected, people's HARD WORK is paid off by negligence by a contractor for Parks and taints neighbors who have benefited from the beautification (and in this case adopted the tree pits) see the community's work as a "so what, see what happens..." ultimately alienating them from potential future participation.

I am hopeful this one incident (and only one) will not damage the efforts from the community groups and our neighbors.

Assuming we get assurances that this was a one time snafu, we'll goto Shannon's or J&L Landscaping, who carry similar nurseries, and purchase 8 more plants for the pits. I'll ask for some help at that time.

If anyone experiences as similar issue:

1. Stop the contractor from removing the plants, just ask for them in a pot so you can replant them later

2. Call/e-mail Jason or me ASAP

3. Call 3-1-1 and file a complaint to the Parks Dept.

Very disappointed, especially since 90% of the pits have stayed clean and green. Calling CCNYC and CB7 as soon as I hit send.

Evening,

Been an interesting day. Spoke with Scott Codey at CCNYC, who was appalled at the situation, especially if one agency (or sub contractor) does not know what the other agency (the Mayor's office) is doing.

He referred the matter to Parks and the Mayor's NYC Service office. I spoke at length with the Managing Director who was also amiss at the situation. She took down the tree pit locations and was in touch with Parks directly. So far, I'm impressed at the response.

We chatted with Julio again who gave us more detail about the "careful removal into cups" of our/his plants and that there were MORE plants on the truck than ours!

I have been contacted by the local media, so my hope is this becomes a win-win situation and the Mayor's office and Parks are able to get to the bottom of this AND help us replant those beautiful perennials. A nice story to tell...

CB7 is also looking into the matter with Parks.

All for now, more to come tomorrow. Let's get back out plants!

Anyone have any new news or saw anything?

lostingreenwoodhts

Happy ending:

Greetings,

I just finished up a meeting with Tom and Liz from NYC Parks who met me at the tree pits in question @ 7th Ave and 22nd St.

it was a great conversation: enlightening, interesting and educational.

First, thanks to Citizens Committee, NYC Parks and NYC Service for their help in getting to the bottom of this issue.

Here's a few things I feel are important:

1. The tree pits adjacent to Julio's property on 7th Ave (near 22nd St.) are NOT NYC Parks or part of the million tree program. Finally confirmed that. They are most likely part of the greening requirement under the zoning resolution change in 2008 that requires any new building that is 25 feet or wider to plant one street tree per 25 feet of frontage. Since our new townhouses at the corner of 23rd St/7th Ave have a foot print of 100X100 feet the developer needed to plant eight trees. If they cannot be planted adjacent to the property (which only one is able to be due to the seven curb cuts...currently), they must be planted within Community Board 7. Parks suggests the trees be planted as close to the new property...thus new trees on 7th Ave. and two towards the top of 23rd St/7th Ave. So, in a bizarre fashion, all the curb cuts helped plant more trees in the community that Parks or million trees program may have not gotten to (or this quickly)...though at the expense of 200 ft. of blistering hot concrete!

2. Tom and Liz were most impressed by our clean up and planting efforts!

3. Tom did point out, that while the plants chosen for our project are lovely specimens, many of them will not do well in the pits (due to sun, water, dog pee, etc.) and some are invasive to the tree's roots. Yikes! Unfortunately, most will not make it through the seasons. He says Parks usually suggests creeping ground cover, mint-related plants, hostas and such herbs as lemon thyme. All of which can take a beating and still do well. He is going to send me a list of suggested plants for Brooklyn. Since we have some $$ remaining, I am suggesting we purchase a few flats of the less expensive of the plants on the list and add to the pits where we can.

4. While the tree pit theft in question is not related to Parks (though we may know who the culprit is), Parks is going to DONATE several flats of plants (creeping variety) to us to replant Julio's pits! Yippy!

So, while the theft was a stupid PITA for the community, it ultimately has been a win-win for our efforts with the help of Citizens Committee, NYC Parks and NYC Service.

I'll update folks when we receive plants from Parks, their preferred plant list and when we will purchase more plants. We'll have to schedule a planting day (with far less work) again in July...hopefully on a cool day for the summer.

REMINDER: please keep up with your adopted pits. Some of the ones we viewed were in desperate need of watering...not just for the new plants, but for the trees as well.

All for now, enjoy the beautiful weather...and enjoy your trees and plants!