Parks Department prunes drooping elm in Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Top pic Sunday by EVG 

Visitors to Tompkins Square Park over the weekend noticed something amiss with one of its older residents: a large American elm just inside the Seventh Street entrance between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Several low-hanging branches appeared drooped or stressed, prompting speculation among locals about whether the tree might be suffering from Sudden Branch Drop (SBD), a phenomenon that can affect mature trees in the summer months. 

But not so fast, says urban forestry expert Georgia Silvera Seamans. 

"From the photos on EVG, it looks like there is some kind of torsion on the leftmost branch from the trunk," said Silvera Seamans, founder of Local Nature Lab and an expert in urban tree health. "This could have been caused by an imbalance in weight on the left side of the tree compared to the overall tree. The crotch — the gap between the branches where they split from the trunk — could be weak." 

Without examining the elm in person, she cautioned against jumping to conclusions but suggested the issue may be more structural than seasonal. 

"It also looks like two branches are rubbing together," she added. "My bet is something structural, which could be related to weight, age, or disease." 

As for whether the elm can be saved, Silvera Seamans said that it depends on what a professional arborist finds during an in-person inspection. 

"Branches could be pruned to lighten the load, heavier branches supported with tree braces, upper branches could be cabled," she said. 

Following our conversation, I walked by the tree to find that the Parks Department had cut it back yesterday — hopefully a sign that the elm will remain a healthy fixture in the park for years to come.