Closing Bell: Upgrade for Flushing Tree Plantings

Interesting they put the pave there, because on my block and others around me in South Brooklyn, they cut open most, if not all, of the tree wells to give them more space.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 4:16 PM

i love these.

anyone who can look at the before and after and not appreciate the after, belongs in las vegas, where they have no trees.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 5:11 PM

5:11: these are really bad for the trees which need to have as large an area as possible for their tree well. so perhaps you belong in vegas since you are advocating so strongly for something superficially pretty that is destructive of the natural environment.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 5:38 PM

The pit you see in this pictures IS actually an adequate size for the trees planted on Flushing...I believe Gingkos, some of them...

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 5:54 PM

Also, friends, it's just the top 4" or so -- it's not as if it affects the whole well. Trees just grow around them, viz the at least 100-year-old trees on Washington Park and elsewhere -- they just push the bricks up when they feel the need to expand.

I think they look good, myself.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 6:04 PM

These are fine and they're much less a hazard than those awful metal grates on which I've seen two different elderly people trip over and fall on the sidewalk, in the last month.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 7:34 PM

"The street tree standards for the City of New York are the worst in the country."

You don't get around the country much, do you? NYC does an excellent job with trees...planting, pruning, the initiative to plant 1,000,000 new trees. I know of no other city in the country taking steps to green their city like this one.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 7:41 PM

"It goes against a host of ADA guidelines"

Good thing, too, if we all followed the excessive ADA guidelines we'd be living in a sanatorium.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 8:03 PM

One day this war on sidewalks is gonna end. They day you realize there are no trees in the ghetto.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 8:31 PM

I had the Park's Dept install the tree in front of my house without the blocks for root growth. It's been 8 years later and the roots are so compacted it is a miracle that it holds up the tree. But of course it does. But it really seems to need all the space on the surface to collect water.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 10:20 PM

My dog loves the new beds....the new dirt is nice and soft on her paws when she crouches over to take a shit.

Posted by: guest at June 4, 2008 9:13 AM

I would likey alot more if the City took repsonsibility for the sidewalk damage these tress and thier roots will generate. The Parks Dept goes around planting trees and says you can't touch them. Then some other city agency goes around giving you summonses and sidewalk repair bills for all the lifting and cracking. Nice! Talk about getting bent over. Other than that, it looks OK. A nice 18 inch high little wrought iron fence around the perimiter would look better.

Posted by: guest at June 4, 2008 9:16 AM

Been 2 years since filled out application for them to come a dig a new tree pit and install a tree.
Have old photos of the house and there used to be a tree pit there, but at some point it was removed.

How do you convince them to come out a plant a tree?

Posted by: guest at June 4, 2008 10:34 AM

The tree is small. It's going to be at least 20 years before the blocks interfere with its health. And then, hey, they'll be easy to remove.

9:13: My dog prefers the ones overgrown with weeds. Lots of yummy smells.

Posted by: guest at June 4, 2008 10:59 AM