NYC had an initiative recently to plant trees everywhere…and that they did. Any open concrete space has been planted in.
The last time they did a mass-planting they by mistakenly planted the female version of the ginkgo biloba tree, instead of the males, leaving rotten vomit-smelling berries lining the streets and your shoes.
Of course some people do go around and try to collect the berries for cooking/eating, but most of them just sit around smelling things up.
One of my issues with the whole campaign is that the city comes around, cuts open the sidewalk, plops a tree in with a couple of poles supporting it, and never comes back to it.
Most of the new trees on my block currently have their poles no longer attached to the trees, as they’ve expanded out of the straps or simply fallen off over time, and the poles themselves have fallen over onto sidewalks or streets.
Meanwhile, the tree next to my house has been standing there for many decades, and is clearly in a failing state, as we can tell by the GIANT BRANCHES THAT SNAP OFF WHENEVER THEIR IS A WIND! But leave it to them to show up and say “nope, this tree is healthy”.
Mind you they said the same thing about the giant tree across the street from me…until Hurricane Irene gave it a little push and it fell over.
About 15 years ago they planted a new tree in front of my house, poles and all, and never came back to it. It grew slanted, due to being planted crooked, and fell over two summers later.
So they came, and stood it back up, with the trusty help of those poles, and it continued to stand, crooked, until they removed it due to its “failing state”.
It’s great that they want NYC to be green and healthy, but if you aren’t doing upkeep on it, it’s more of a nuisance than a help.
Come on PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Agriculture), get on this!
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