Workers arrived this morning at La Plaza Cultural to remove the willow tree in the southwest corner of the community garden here on Avenue C and Ninth Street.
The tree, nicknamed Cher, was in bad shape, as this shot of the rotting trunk shows...
EVG correspondent Steven shared these photos...
... and later via Bobby Williams...
Previously on EV Grieve:
A wake for the last willow trees at La Plaza Cultural
At the Weeping Willow Wake
Ugh, she was a beauty. Heartbreaking. Here's hoping somebody can take some slips from her branches and replant!
ReplyDeleteCher and Cassini on the same day. :(
ReplyDeleteSniff.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Goggla, watched Cassini "die" this morning with a lump in my throat, and now this.
It's a tree people, come on. It was literally rotting and would soon fall down anyway.
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ReplyDeleteSeptember 15, 2017 at 6:15 PM
We are all literally rotting and will soon fall down anyway, like the tree, so it's noteworthy to some of us. G'night.
The sheer importance of trees to EVERYONE will soon become very evident in the age of climate change. I loved this tree and have exquisite memories of basking in her shadow. A huge loss!
ReplyDeleteActually, one neighbor that I know of—and probably others—took cuttings and intends to root them, so we can hope that Cher will live again.
ReplyDeleteThats how willows grow, some trees can get quite old and graceful growing alongside a creek. They can live with rot but modern humans can't stand a little rot and want everything shiny, new, and perfect.
ReplyDeleteSad, the area seems too open now. For our 22 years in the neighborhood we enjoyed her shade. All our willows have gone one by one...seems like a metaphor for the East Village.
ReplyDeleteI put together this little Vimeo of the event. I use two photos at the end that are from this EV Grieve article and would like to credit the photographer by name. I give EV Grieve some credit in the Vimeo write up and will credit the photographer in the Vimeo when I get the name.
ReplyDeletehttps://vimeo.com/234125030
Oh how I loved that Willow...I hope the folks that took cuttings will secure Cher's legacy in that spot.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness the area does seem too open now, doesn't it? It's shocking to see that much sky at the corner. Change, blah blah but decades of joy from those trees. Less a landmark and more a talisman for that corner of the nabe. Something will come next and we'll all come to appreciate that with any luck. xo
ReplyDeleteThey certainly cleaned up after themselves. I went by there yesterday, and you'd never know anything grew there, let alone a tree that size. It just looks like a space someone forgot to utilize.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Liz Christy, the Johnny Appleseed of the East Village.
ReplyDeleteYour willows are gone, but the gardens live on.