'I smell dead things': The plot thins on Avenue A

The mucky tree well on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street along the Con Ed substation is once again a bare plot of earth and pigeon feed.

The plants or crops — or whatever was managing to grow there — were removed by an unknown source last week, returning this particular patch of Avenue A to its more familiar state. 

Some readers may recall that the tree well enjoyed a brief horticultural renaissance in the spring of 2024, when a resident cleaned out the muck and added a collection of plants. 

However, it didn't last, as this tree well seems to be connected to an underground life force bubbling up from the earth's core. (Fact check, please.) 

The smell, however, remains. We once described it as "dead vampires" and were quickly called out for it: "Have you ever smelled a dead vampire?" 

Dammit. Anyway. 

Nature is healing?

Previously on EV Grieve:

• This spring, new life for the mucky tree well that smells like dead things on Avenue A

Wednesday's parting shot

Coming up on harvest time here on Avenue A between Fifth and Sixth Street... we can almost taste the corn on the cob!

Monday's parting shot

Several EVG readers spotted activity this morning inside the infamously mucky tree well on Avenue A just south of Sixth Street ... the one that's been a stagnant soup of water, soggy bread, and other pigeon snacks for years. 

Workers were seen turning over the dirt and removing small samples, though it wasn't immediately clear what kind of intervention was underway. 

We'll keep an eye on this tree pit to see what, if anything, may sprout from today's efforts. 

Attempts to revitalize the space — including a spring planting rescue mission in March 2024 — have, unfortunately, not taken root.

Checking in on the former mucky tree well on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy

Last Tuesday, we reported on longtime East Village resident Siobhan Meow taking care of the formerly mucky-smelly tree well on Avenue A just south of Sixth Street (now known as the Noel Reed Memorial Tree Pit).

We spotted Siobhan at work yesterday, putting in some early ground cover for the soil ...

We're looking forward to seeing this formerly soggy, bread-ridden plot come to life this spring.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• This spring, new life for the mucky tree well that smells like dead things on Avenue A

This spring, new life for the mucky tree well that smells like dead things on Avenue A

Prologue 

Text and photos by EVG

Since last summer, the tree well on Avenue A just south of Sixth Street has been a mucky cesspool of stagnant water, soggy bread, and other snacks for pigeons adjacent to the block-long Con Edison substation. 

On warm days, when the winds are just right, you can smell the fragrant pit nearly a block away — an aroma that smells like decaying rodents, sewer water, and stale bread.

Despite the muck, life found a way last summer ... 

On Dec. 31, we noticed something remarkable: someone had tilled the plot, turning the earth and providing hope. And after the most recent MulchFest in Tompkins Square Park in January, someone even put down a fresh bed of chips. 

We've never seen anyone drop off the pigeon smorgasbord, but we haven't spotted the person (or people?) tending to the plot either. 

Until last week. 

Hope Springs Eternal

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Last week, you may have noticed that someone had been giving the mucky tree well some TLC. I spotted East Village artist Siobhan Meow working here with a shovel and asked her about the project. 

"I decided to adopt a tree well!" she said. 

She has named it the Noel Reed Memorial Tree Pit after her friend Noel Reed, aka Leon Deer, aka Mr. Twilight, "who died much too young." He was a dancer with the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and worked for Con Edison as a welder. 

"I noticed last summer that this amazing cornstalk is growing here. Just the one cornstalk. And then when it was gone, it smelled so bad here in the summer," she said. "All the pigeons…there was so much pigeon guano, which is really good for plants."

Carrying a shovel from her garden, she said, "I turned it over, added some compost from my rooftop garden, some soil from an abandoned outdoor restaurant shack planter, and then a layer of Christmas tree shavings, mulch from the park." 

What does she see for the tree pit? "Shrubs only. Nothing over 12 feet tall. I'd love to see a pussy willow in there. But don't feel too precious about what you put in it. It needs earthworms, too. Nightcrawlers. The best worms."

She's putting out an open call for plants, hoping someone will donate roses or shrubbery. "I don't want to be too controlling," she said

She plans to maintain the pit to be more "civically conscious and to get some exercise."

Epilogue

Tuesday's parting shot

Unfortunately, the cornfield on Avenue A between Sixth Street and Fifth Street is starting to smell a little ripe. There was a dead rat sighting, but it smells worse than that TBH. And worse than moldy, soggy bread cubes.