Tree down on 12th Street

We received several reader reports of a downed tree this morning on the north side of 12th Street just west of Second Avenue...

Our tipsters arrived after the tree was down. It's possible that the truck neatly parked in the bike lane, and the tree just happened to uproot and fall over on its own. (Of course, we've had our share, like here and here, of truck-tree collisions. The trucks always win.) 

Here's a screen grab from a reader video...

Tree aside, there weren't any reports of injuries. According to the NYC Tree Map, this was a Callery pear. 

Updated 3:30 p.m.

 

William Klayer notes that 12th Street between Third Avenue and Second Avenue is closed to traffic... while workers remove the downed tree...

Updated: Tree down on Avenue A

We received reader reports this afternoon of a vehicle striking and knocking over a smallish tree on the west side of Avenue A near the M14 stop outside Village View between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

We gleaned the following info from two readers who came across the scene just after the collision around 4:30. A vehicle traveling north on A apparently made a U-turn, hitting the tree and speeding off in the southbound lane. The vehicle (we don't know what type) was likely partially struck by the falling tree as the driver left the scene. 

The tree fell across Avenue A and blocked nearly three-quarters of the roadway for about 10 minutes. The FDNY arrived and used a chainsaw to remove the remains from Avenue A and tossed the limbs over the fence along Village View. 

Thankfully, no one was injured. Let us know if you have more details about the collision.

Updated 8 p.m.

We have another reader report (and it was not such a smallish tree)...

Per an EVG reader:

A black pick-up, someone said a Honda Ridgeline, struck a parked car on the east side of Avenue A, floored it in reverse, shot across the avenue, and uprooted and snapped the tree in two. The truck bed tailgate flew open, throwing its contents against the fence at Village View. 

The driver sped off, turning left (east) on Fourth Street, thankfully sparing our beloved Key Food. Some bystanders took photos of the truck and showed the police. Don't know if anyone got the license plate number. The open back tailgate blocked it from my view.

Tree down on 14th Street

The driver of a Penske box truck collided with a tree on the south side of 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B last night, according to witnesses. 

The collision occurred about 8:40 p.m. A witness alleged that the driver claimed to have only "bumped" the tree with the passenger side mirror. 

Helluva bump...

The driver left, the police were called... and someone captured the aftermath on the Citizen app...

 

Vehicle Crash Into Tree @CitizenApp

538 E 14th St Yesterday 8:46:42 PM EDT

10th Street tree freed from death by concrete

311 worked!

On July 6, we noted that a tree outside 85 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue was entombed in concrete. 

EVG reader Ron, who shared the initial tip and the photo above, saw workers remove the concrete from the tree well on Wednesday. One of the workers said the building had received a fine.

As a reminder... from the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation website... in the tree pit section: 

A city tree must battle many urban hazards daily — from air pollution and bicycles to dogs and people. In addition to above-ground threats, tree roots also must contend with tough below-ground conditions. A tree pit or lawn strip provides limited space for these forest giants, and this soil is a tree's only source of nutrients. Because of this, it is essential to create as nurturing a tree pit as possible. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• What's the 311? How East Village residents can effectively file complaints

Reader report: 2 more entombed trees

EVG readers shared intel on two other entombed neighborhood trees after this post from Monday.

The top photo is from outside 85 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue (thanks, Ron!). 

The tree is surrounded by a halo that reveals about an inch of soil.

 

The shot below is from outside 202 E. 13th St., just east of Third Avenue. It shows a tree pit complete with plastic greenery to give the concrete base a 99-cent store look.

From the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation website... in the tree pit section: 

A city tree must battle many urban hazards daily — from air pollution and bicycles to dogs and people. In addition to above-ground threats, tree roots also must contend with tough below-ground conditions. A tree pit or lawn strip provides limited space for these forest giants, and this soil is a tree's only source of nutrients. Because of this, it is essential to create as nurturing a tree pit as possible.

These 2 East Village trees are still entombed in concrete

We've heard from several EVG readers about these two tree pits... the top one is outside 521 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. We mentioned it on May 7, and multiple readers said they called 311 about the entombed tree. 

Meanwhile, building management maintains that this has reduced the rat population. 

Elsewhere, there's another soon-to-be-dead tree outside 47 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, a spot that residents said they have reported to the city.

Any others to report?

Reader report: Why were our new trees canceled?

From the EVG inbox...

I live on Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue and we were so excited when the city posted we'd be getting two new trees on our block. But [last Thursday], our dreams were crushed when someone came and filled in the two freshly dug tree holes with cement again! I tried calling 311 but to no avail. Does anyone have an idea what happened to get our trees canceled? 

The reader is curious if any block associations or community gardens have had something similar happen.

Elsewhere, a reader points out that this tree well outside 521 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B has been inexplicably filled in with cement...

Tree rescued from concrete on Houston

Photos by Salim

A quick follow-up to a post from a few weeks back, when we noted the new sidewalk bridge along 280 E. Houston St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, the site of an incoming 12-floor mixed-use building. 

In creating this, the workers entombed a tree near Avenue B in concrete. 

However, as these photos (thanks, Salim!) show, the construction crew drilled out the concrete that filled the tree well... allowing it to take in water now...

As for the new development, it will contain 224,809 square feet of space — for residential, commercial and community use. The residential portion will total 211,028 square feet for 157 apartments, per DOB records. The retail section will feature 12,000 square feet, while the community facility is 1,300 square feet.

At last a sidewalk bridge along 280 E. Houston St., site of a new 12-story building

Photos by Salim 

The site of an incoming 12-story residential building has reached the next phase at 280 E. Houston St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Workers have finally erected a sidewalk bridge to keep pedestrians safe(r). In the previous iteration, pedestrians and various cyclists (e-bikes, scooters, etc.) had to share the roadway.

However, in creating the new walkway, workers entombed this tree near Avenue B in concrete ... might as well just chop it down now ...

To recap: The new development will contain 224,809 square feet of space — for residential, commercial and community use. The residential portion will total 211,028 square feet for 157 apartments, per DOB records. The retail section will feature 12,000 square feet, while the community facility is 1,300 square feet.

Reader report: This tree could use some help on 4th Street

An EVG reader shared these photos from outside 203 E. Fourth St., a Kushner-owned Westminster Management property between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Here's more via the reader: "I passed by this poor tree ... There is a deep hole between the torn roots and paved sidewalk." 

The reader asks who to contact to add soil to the tree pit.

"The tree is very much alive and we should not lose another tree in this neighborhood."

Weeping for this lost tree on Avenue A

The city has cut down the lone tree along the west side of Avenue A between Houston/First Street and Second Street. 

The New York City Tree Map identified this as a weeping willow. [Updated: It was actually a corkscrew willow — thanks to the reader for this ID!]

Last Friday morning around 10:30, according to witnesses and a report on the Citizen app, a white, unmarked box truck violently lurched into the tree, causing a sizable gash across its trunk...

Some time yesterday, the tree was cut down (the first pic is from a tipster) ...

A tipster shared a clip of surveillance footage showing the truck running into the tree. 

 

The driver of the truck did not get out and inspect any damage, and drove off, per a witness.

There was some hope from nearby residents that the tree — with its unique corkscrew trunk — could stay put.

On St. Mark's Place, office building 1, tree 0

EVG reader Bruce Tantum shared the above photo from Wednesday morning ... when workers cut down a tree that had managed to survive the intermittent construction the past three-plus years at the office building going up on the NE corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Not sure exactly what kind of tree this was (the NYC tree map listed this as a Callery pear), but it looked plenty healthy to us, as seen last year ... it just had the misfortune of being behind the construction plywood...

... the rendering for the building even shows a similar-looking tree on St. Mark's Place...

Claim: City cuts down tree on 5th Street after block association receives permission for pruning

A stump is all that's left of a 50-plus-year-old flowering Callery pear tree outside 339 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

According to a member of the East Fifth St. Block Association Tree Committee, the group hired (at a cost of $500) an arborist who pruned the tree — with the approval of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation... "cutting off worrisome branches to maintain safety." 

Several weeks later this past Thursday, "a crew from the Parks Department arrived early in the morning and chopped the tree down before anyone was up to notice," a tree committee rep told us. 

"As it is, the Parks Department has turned the previously lush old trees on Fifth Street — watered, fertilized and tended to by our tree committee — between Cooper Square and First Avenue into grotesque Edward Gorey-like silhouettes by their over pruning. We are devastated," the committee member said. "Our arborist told us that weakens the trees and will shorten their life span." 

The city hasn't shown much passion or sympathy for local trees in recent months.

Photo courtesy of the East Fifth St. Block Association Tree Committee

As the tree pit turns

Photo by Stacie Joy 

For those of you keeping tabs on the tree pit outside 185 E. Third St., here's the latest... building management has now covered the dirt with wire mesh, which will prevent rats from burrowing in the space ... while allowing for water to reach the tree roots, etc. 

Anyway, a better approach than the first rat-proofing attempt last month: covering the tree well in cement, which would eventually kill the tree. Multiple residents here between Avenue A and Avenue B called 311, and the city removed the cement within a week.

City frees tree entombed in concrete on 3rd Street

Photo from yesterday

As noted last Tuesday, to combat rats burrowing in the tree pit outside 185 E. Third St., building management decided to cover the space in concrete. 

Several readers had previously called 311 to alert them of this issue. (The concrete will inhibit the tree's ability to take in water and oxygen and could likely result in its death.) 

The city has since closed the service request on this block between Avenue A and Avenue B, noting: "NYC Parks performed the work necessary to correct the condition. We notified the building owner yesterday, ordering them to remove the concrete from the tree pit. The concrete was removed on Thursday, May 19, 2022."

A terrible way to try to kill rats

Updated 5/23: Several residents report that, via 311 calls, the city has removed the cement from the tree pit.

To combat rats burrowing in the tree pit outside 185 E. Third St., building management decided to cover the space in concrete.

As an unhappy resident here between Avenue A and Avenue B noted, the concrete will inhibit the tree's ability to take in water and oxygen and could likely result in its death.

There are better options ... which the city discusses via its online Rat Academy courses for property managers, business owners, etc.  Find other rat resources via the city here.

Thanks to Suzy Kunz for the photo. 

So long to this sycamore tree on 9th Street

Photos by Steven 

Workers today cut down this sycamore tree on the north side of Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second. 

It was not immediately clear what prompted this removal...

... a worker pointed out a deteriorating and spongy area of the stump...

EVG reader Terry Howell shared this photo...

He writes: 

This lovely sycamore tree and I coexisted peacefully on this block for over 47 years. I don't remember it ever being small. I have no clue why the city choose to murder it today. They will probably say "it's too old," unsafe, etc., etc., etc. My feeling is that Amazon probably needs its own loading space, another restaurant shed needs to be built, a branch might injure a CAR! or it's just inconveniently in the way. I, being old like the sycamore, hope I live long enough to see its spindly replacement sapling, which the city will plant and then ignore. 

Yesterday, city workers also removed a tree on 10th Street just west of First Avenue...

Updated 12:30

The remains of the sycamore after the workers left... 

Tuesday's parting shot

As the city's East Side Coastal Resiliency Project moves forward, workers began cutting down trees in East River Park south of Stanton Street today. 

This small grove of cherry trees was the first to go. 

Photo via @1000people1000trees. (Follow that account and @eastriverparkaction for ongoing updates throughout the day from East River Park.) 

In total, the city plans to cut down 1,000 trees during the five-plus year rebuild of the park.

Tree down on 11th at B

We had a tree down late this afternoon on 11th Street just east of Avenue B... EVG contributor Stacie Joy happened to be by...

... it caused some damage to the vehicle...

... and the FDNY was quickly on the scene...

... and the roots appear to be rotted...

Updated 10 a.m. 

Vinny & O shared these photos from the clean up this morning...