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April 29, 2008
Street tree advice
I requested a street tree from the parks dept. about a year and half back. Long story short, I just now found out that they rejected my request last year sometime due to underground utilities at the site. Does anyone have any alternative ideas for sprucing up the sidewalk? We have a row of about 10 houses with nothing but bare sidewalk and we need something to pretty the block up.
Comments
Side walk chalk?
Posted by: bunkerlabs at April 29, 2008 4:44 PM
Thanks bunkerlabs! We do extensive decorating with chalk within our fence. The whole park slope scandal scared us off the public spaces!
Posted by: cornetor at April 29, 2008 4:52 PM
You can try for some very large planters - I beleive that would be esier to get approval for.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 5:10 PM
I wouldn't give up on the tree. They're actually required for new construction under the recent zoning law, so don't put up with the excuses/delays they'll throw at you just because you're grandfathered. Give a call to your local council member. They love to push around executive branch agencies so they can put out a press release about how they're doing their part to make NYC more eco-friendly.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 6:33 PM
There are utility lines across the entire front of your house?
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 7:46 PM
If there are steam pipes under your sidewalk (which there often are), anything you plant, the steam will kill. Your best bet is for planters and benches. I am doing a project in Manhattan with the same problems. We have 175 feet of sidewalk and a big Con Ed vault and steam pipes. We're going to have one measley tree at the entrance to the building. If you do anything on the sidewalk, you'll need to get it approved. you can't just stick a big planter and reduce the pedestrian width wherever you want.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 11:58 PM
Try calling the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for advice. They are really knowledgeable and helpful.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 10:50 AM
Don't give up on getting trees on your block! Due to the mayor's initiative to plant a million trees in nyc all you have to do is just call 311 and put in a request for your block. No longer do you have to wait for the homeowners to put in their own request. So if your house is not a good site maybe they can plant one next door. Just give them a range in addresses, I did it a few weeks ago.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 1:46 PM
Pussies, be creative and do what I did. 1)just call 800 272-4480 they will come out for free and mark all your utility locations so you aren't going to dig into a utility line. 2) (This is optional) pull a D.O.T. permit for sidewalk repair, cut out the "damaged" concrete square, and patch it with a tree. Just look up a local nursery and order a tree, you should select it from the Parks Dept. approved street tree list.
Posted by: guest at May 1, 2008 2:01 AM
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