The NY Times article "For Urban Tree Planters, Concrete Is the Easy Part" writes about Arthur Simpson, one of the 24 foresters hired this past year to get the city's Million Trees Initiative under way, and some of the surprising resistance he has encountered since he began the job.
Links on the Million Trees Initiative, why trees are a good urban investment, and how to get involved after the jump...
Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town are already planting an additional 10,000 trees.
The Times article notes individual concerns over care, maintenance, responsibility and liability. Hopefully these are only minor speedbumps - and not roadblocks - for something that will benefit so many people. Will this program get a few more of us to take time out and learn to care for trees? NYers are a notoriously busy bunch, but this is a good cause.
Two places where people have voiced their opinions already:
Trees are for the common good, helping the environment, our resources, and well-being:
If this type of community involvement speaks to you, please do take a look at the Partnerships for Parks training programs. Also the Million Trees Initiative website has a page for getting involved and learning about tree care.
What are your thoughts?
matt at apartment therapy dot com
Top photo by Rob Bennett, bottom by Earl Wilson, both for the NY Times
Copyright © 2007 Apartment Therapy
What a hoot! Only in NY would people protest against planting trees.
view quiltmaster's profile
well, not such a hoot. in washington, dc, casey trees got a huge volunteer planting program started. it's great. www.caseytrees.org
however, there is a cultural divide--many trees were uprooted by neighbourhoods that saw trees as liabilities--meaning leaves to rake, branches to fall and damage houses and cars, pests, etc.
i was deeply saddened to learn that there are whole communities so removed from nature, so ignorant of the necessity for trees. learning about assumptions about nature was as instructive as the really wonderful tree curriculum that casey offers.
dc has whole cohorts of trees, vast acreage, including national parks, that may die off simultaneously. planting trees became a critical environmental issue. something else to think about.
view avianmission's profile
It sounds minute in comparison, but Boston is working on planting 100,000 trees by 2020. Of course, Boston is a lot smaller.
view cweingarten's profile
wow! i think it's great that they are trying to bring trees to the city, for so many reasons. it's too bad that there are always party poopers.
view AimeeRoo's profile
I live street-level so one of the new trees is actually right outside my window. It gives me mixed feelings because as it grows, the roots could potentially compromise a retaining wall for the basement apartments. Neighboring trees have become a haven for rats, who tunnel and scamper about nightly. We had a generous amount of trees on our block already (I love nature!) I would have just preferred they tackle the rat issue first. I dread the night when I come home to find a rat darting under the new tree. On the positive side, I welcome anything that will help produce fresh oxygen and improve air quality.
view Trish's profile
I don't even know where to begin with how short-sighted and maddening these anti-tree folks are...
view trygve's profile
I wish I could get trees by my place. When I moved in there was a tree outside my bedroom window and two huge ones outside my living room windows on the other side of the apartment. They've since all died(???) Don't know why. Now I have no trees. I wish someone would replace them.
view ridge_van_winkle's profile
The million tree campaign is great. I'm all for planting new trees, but what about the hundreds of older trees that were ripped out to make way for the New Yankee Stadium. They tore down an established park full of old trees in an area with the highest rates of asthma in children in the city. And we get to pay for it! Yeah, Bloomberg is a real environmentalist!
view homebody's profile