Tag Archives: Trees

Wanna Fight Crime? Plant Trees

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Do street trees increase or decrease crime? In an urban setting, does increased vegetation interfere with police surveillance of criminal activity? Or does the increase in community “surveillance” from more people spending more time outdoors, because it’s more pleasant, deter crime even more than police surveillance would?

According to Joseph Murray, biology instructor at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Virginia, it’s the latter:

Police tend to believe more vegetation means less visibility. A study in 2001 looked at subsidized housing units with varying amounts of vegetation around them. The most calls to the police came from the building with the least vegetation. Those with more vegetation tended to draw residents who demanded benches and well-maintained playground equipment. Then, people were out there watching.
– Urban Forestry Has Crime Prevention Role, Patricia R. McCoy, Alliance for Community Trees, January 22, 2008

We need to internalize more sophisticated models of the impact greening and gardening can have on urban communities. It’s much more than “neighborhood beautification”; at least, when it’s done well, it is. People need green growing things around them to be healthy, to reduce stress, to connect with neighbors, and to feel positively about belonging where they live. Gardening builds and supports community resiliency to respond creatively and constructively to internal and external crises and pressures. Gardening builds community. As it should.

Park Circle Mulchfest 2008: Sunday, January 6

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219 trees were chipped at this location on Saturday, 564 on Sunday. The two-day total was 783. Not bad for the first time at this location.

I left Saturday about 12:45pm, so I didn’t get to see how the rest of the day went. When I arrived Sunday morning, there was already a full corral of trees waiting to be chipped. I don’t know how many of them were left over from Saturday. It’s likely that many of them were dropped off overnight.
Sunday Begins

There was a much bigger turnout of volunteers today than yesterday. It took a while for everyone to get signed in this morning.
Volunteer Registration

It’s a good thing we had all the volunteers on hand. There were several large truckloads delivered during the day.
Offloading another Truckload of Trees
Offloading Another Truckload of Trees

As expected, many more people brought their trees today rather than yesterday. There was a pretty regular stream of arrivals. Most of the folks brought their trees by car, but they also walked, as this couple did, wheeled their trees in laundry and shopping baskets, and even biked them in.
Bringing the Tree

The chipper didn’t operate constantly all day. We’d build up a large batch of trees, then the Parks staff would crank up the chipper and polish off the pile quickly. When the timing was right, and the chipper was active, folks dropping off their tree got to watch their very own tree getting chipped.
Saying Goodbye to the Tree

In the interest of photos of garden bloggers, here’s an action shot of me bringing a tree from curbside to a Parks pickup truck. It’s not in my garden, but it’s somewhat gardening-related. Several of the Parks staff and some of the volunteers addressed me as “Santa”.
Loading the Truck
Loading the Truck
Loading the Truck

Guardian of the Tools
Guarding the Tools

Related Posts

My Mulchfest posts
Park Circle Mulchest 2008 [Flickr set]

Links

Mulchfest 2008, Parks

Park Circle Mulchfest 2008: Saturday, January 5

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Update 2008.01.06: I’ve added a post with photos from today.

Trees check in, they don’t check out.
Tree Corral
Today I volunteered for the city-wide Mulchfest at the Park Circle location. I had a great time, and I’m going back tomorrow.

The 3rd Street entrance to Prospect Park has been the focus of past years, and it was this year as well. By 11am, we heard that they had already handled over 300 trees. All the media were there, as well as the Parks Commissioner.

This is the first year that chipping is being done on-site at Park Circle. It was slow to start at 10am, but the pace picked up during the morning, and by the time I left around 12:30pm, I estimate at least 200 trees had been chipped and shredded, with more arriving every few minutes. Parks trucks went out with staff and volunteers to cruise the streets in the area for trees left for curbside pickup. They brought those back to park Circle for chipping. That was the source for most of the trees, though we had several drop-offs as well.

Because today was Three Kings Day, many people in the area of Park Circle had not yet taken down their trees. Tomorrow should be even busier.

Assembly Line

The chipper empties into the back of a specialized dump-van/track. A couple of times during the day, the truck backs up and dumps out a huge pile of mulched Christmas trees.

MorBark Action Shot

The mulch is available for residents to come by and pick up. I got four big bags of it to use in my backyard. Parks staff and volunteers also moved the mulch to mulch trees around Park Circle. We’ll be doing more of that tomorrow, as well.

Finished Mulch Dump Action Shot

Two of the volunteers at Park Circle were from the radio station Hot97. They sent a small crew over from 3rd Street to Park Circle. I think they interviewed everyone there, including me. So sometime in the next week there will be a very brief (about 10 seconds) video of me on their Web site.

Thank You Very Mulch!
Thank You Very Mulch!

Related Posts

My Mulchfest posts
Park Circle Mulchest 2008 [Flickr set]

Links

Mulchfest 2008, Parks
HOT 97 at Mulchfest 2008

Volunteers still needed for Park Circle Mulchfest this Saturday and Sunday 10am-2pm

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Update 2008.01.06: I’ve added a post with photos from today.
Update 2008.01.05: I have photos from my stint at Park Circle today.
Update 2008.01.04: I will be volunteering Saturday and Sunday for as long as I can hold out. Hope to see some of you there!

Earlier today I called Volunteers in Prospect Park, (718) 965-8960, and confirmed that they still need volunteers for this weekend’s Mulchfest in Prospect Park.

Earlier this week, I posted a map of Brooklyn Mulchfest 2008 locations. The Park Circle location is closest to my neck of the woods. The current weather forecast calls for sunny partly sunny with highs in the mid to upper 40s on both days. Sounds like great days to be out and about, get in touch with new neighbors, and make new friends.

If you want to volunteer, just call the number above during the day on Friday. I know the coordinator from waaay back in the day, so tell her I sent you!

I’m going to sign up for Sunday, and possibly Saturday. Hope to see you around this weekend.

January 2008: Holiday Tree Recycling

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Update 2008.01.06: I’ve added a post with photos from today.
Update 2008.01.05: I have photos from my stint at Park Circle today.
Update 2008.01.01: Added a new post with a map of Brooklyn locations for on-site chipping and drop-off.

Christmas Tree

This winter holiday season, when you’re done enjoying your ChrismaHanuKwanzaa tree (or, if you prefer, like me, a paganish Solstice tree) be sure that it gets recycled. In New York City, you have two ways to do that this year: MulchFest, and Curb-side Pickup. Whichever you choose, be sure to first remove all lights, ornaments, decorations, tree-stands and what-not before turning your tree into mulch.

WHAT: Curb-side Pickup
WHEN: January 3 through 16, 2008

The Department of Sanitation will collect for composting clean holiday trees left at the curb from Thursday, January 3 through Wednesday, January 16, 2008. Make sure all lights, ornaments and stands are removed before setting trees at the curb.

WHAT: MulchFest, Tree Drop-Off and Free Wood-Chip Pickup at selected Parks locations
WHEN: January 5th & 6th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

MulchFest provides New Yorkers an opportunity to bring their Christmas trees to designated sites where they are ground into wood chips. The chips can then be placed in tree pits and gardens. Parks & Recreation encourages New Yorkers to help the environment and their community by participating in this event. MulchFest takes place on January 5 & 6, 2008 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Participants are encouraged to bring bags to take advantage of the free mulch provided. Participants will be able to take wood chips and/or mulch home from designated chipping sites. Mulch will not be available at sites marked as “Drop-off Only”.

Brooklyn Mulchfest Sites

Location Address Service
McCarren Park Driggs Avenue & Lorimer Street Chipping
Von King Park Lafayette Street & Tompkins Avenue Chipping
Ft Greene Park Washington Pk. & Willoughby Street Chipping
Cobble Hill Park Verandah Place & Clinton Street Chipping
Prospect Park Third Street at Prospect Park West Chipping
Owl’s Head Park Colonial Road & 68th Street Chipping
Marine Park Avenue U & 33rd Streets Chipping
McGolrick Park Monitor Street & Driggs Avenue Drop-off only
Maria Hernandez Park Knickerbocker Avenue & Suydam Street Drop-off only
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park Dumont Avenue & Bradford Street Drop-off only
Amazing Garden Carroll Street & Columbia Street Drop-off only
Coffey Park Dwight Stree & Verona Street Drop-off only
Sunset Park 44th Street & 6th Avenue Drop-off only
Bensonhurst Park Bay 30th Street & Cropsey Avenue Drop-off only
Paerdegat Park 40th Street & Foster Avenue Drop-off only
Green-Wood Cemetery 25th Street & 5th Avenue Drop-off only
Green-Wood Cemetery Mulchfest Info: Drop off trees 8am to 4:30pm daily from Jan 1 thru Jan 11. Bring trees for chipping 10am to 2pm on Sat Jan 12; NYC’s recycling bin characters will be on hand from 11am to 1pm. Get mulch year-round! For more info, call Brooklyn Botanic Garden at 718-623-7290, or Green-Wood Cemetery at 718-768-7300.
Lincoln Terrace Park Buffalo Avenue between East New York Avenue and Eastern Parkway Drop-off only
Shore Road Park 79th Street & Shore Road Drop-off only

Links

MulchFest 2008

Brooklyn Blogger Photo-Essay: Planting a Street Tree

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Google Alerts is so cool. I just added an alert for “Brooklyn” and “Tree”. And this popped up within about 20 minutes:

I had an amazing time planting the street tree. I never had the opportunity before, only knowing how to take care of windowsill gardens. It felt like I was part of something larger than myself. I really liked getting my hand dirty and working outside. I felt like I was bringing back the wolf by bringing back a tree.
– A tree grows in Brooklyn, art, life (no separation)

Angela’s post is illustrated by a sequence of photos showing the progress from empty pit to planted tree.

A Quality Housing requirement for the NYC Buildings Department is for the home owner to plant a street tree either in front of their new home or somewhere nearby (same block or neighborhood). That was my task this week. Along with my father, we planted our first street tree together. A Japanese Zelkovatree [Zelkova serrata], apparently impervious to the devastating longhorn beetle, was chosen in conjunction with the Parks Department.

Parks has a list of approved street tree species on their Web site. This is not a complete list of species that could be planted – “Superior cultivars may be substituted with the permission of the Agency” – but species susceptible to Asian-Longhorned Beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis) are specifically prohibited. These include Maples (Acer), Elms (Ulmus), Ashes (Fraxinus), and Hackberries (Celtis).

Related Posts

Asian-Longhorned Beetle
Urban Forestry

Links

Asian-Longhorned Beetle
Street Tree Species List
Trees & Greenstreets
NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

November Arborea, FotT #18

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Festival of the Trees #18, November Arborea, is up on Larry Ayers’ Riverside Rambles. This issue has a link to my post about Brooklyn’s Trees, the Flickr photo pool I started this year.

The 19th Festival of the Trees will be hosted by Lorianne of Hoarded Ordinaries. She’ll be taking submissions until midnight on December 30th. You can e-mail her at zenmama (at) gmail.com. You can also use the handy submission form.

Factoid: Street Trees and Property Values

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The street tree in front of our house
Sycamore Maple? Street Tree, Stratford Road

Two weeks ago, I wrote that stormwater runoff reduction was the “second biggest” contributor to the annual benefits New York City receives from its street trees. So what’s the largest contributor? The annual increase in property values that accrues as trees grow:

Well-maintained trees increase the “curb appeal” of properties. Research comparing sales prices of residential properties with different numbers and sizes of trees suggests that people are willing to pay 3–7% more for properties with ample trees versus few or no trees. One of the most comprehensive studies on the influence of trees on residential property values was based on actual sales prices and found that each large front-yard tree was associated with about a 1% increase in sales price (Anderson and Cordell 1988). Depending on average home sale prices, the value of this benefit can contribute significantly to property tax revenues.
– NYC Municipal Forest Resource Analysis, Appendix D: Methodology, Property Value and Other Benefits [emphasis added]

The annual increase in property values attributable to NYC’s street trees alone is estimated at $52,500,000 per year. The standing value of those trees is far greater, 50-100 times the annual figure, in the billions of dollars. And this study only examined street trees. These figures do not take into account the standing and ever-increasing value of trees, plants, and other landscaping on the properties themselves.

Take that, Barbara Corcoran.

Many benefits attributed to urban trees are difficult to translate into economic terms. Wildlife habitat, beautification, improved human health, privacy, shade that increases human comfort, sense of place, and well-being are difficult to price. However, the value of some of these benefits may be captured in the property values of the land on which trees stand. To estimate the value of these “other” intangible benefits, research that compares differences in sales prices of houses was used to estimate the contribution associated with trees. The difference in sales price reflects the willingness of buyers to pay for the benefits and costs associated with trees.
– NYC Municipal Forest Resource Analysis, Chapter 4: Benefits of New York’s Municipal Trees

The calculation of annual aesthetic and other benefits is tied to a tree’s annual increase in leaf area. When a tree is actively growing, leaf area increases rapidly. At maturity, there may be no net increase in leaf area from year to year, thus there is little or no incremental annual aesthetic benefit for that year, although the cumulative benefit over the course of the entire life of the tree may be large. Since this report represents a 1-year snapshot of the street tree population, benefits reflect the increase in leaf area for each tree over the course of one year. As a result, a very young population of 100 callery pears
will have a greater annual aesthetic benefit than an equal number of mature planetrees. However, the cumulative aesthetic value of the planetrees would be much greater than that of the pear.

Related Posts

Barbara Corcoran Hates the Earth, November 18
Factoids: NYC’s Street Trees and Stormwater Reduction, November 15
Basic Research: The State of the Forest in New York City, November 12
Preserving Livable Streets: DCP’s Yards Text Amendment, November 7
How Much Is a Street Tree Really Worth?, April 9

Links

Million Trees NYC

Tree Pits are not Dumpsters

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Commercial Trash Dumped in Tree Pit on Cortelyou Road
Commercial Trash Dumped in Tree Pit on Cortelyou Road

I had a great community experience of planting Daffodils in the tree pits along Cortelyou Road the previous two weekends. So I was especially disheartened to find this afternoon that someone placed their trash in one of the tree pits.

You can see from the photo that it’s mostly recycling. There’s a bundle of cardboard on the right. The blue bags contain plastic and metal recyclables. The black bag contained mixed garbage, including papers identifying the business whose trash this was.

I don’t want to identify them right now. I want to give them a chance to respond. If I have time, I’ll try calling them tomorrow. I emailed them earlier this evening:

This afternoon I noticed that the tree pit in front of your building on Cortelyou Road had several bags and bundles of recycling and garbage in it. I looked for any items that could identify where it came from. I found several pieces of paper from your business.

You may not know that your neighbors spent the past two weekends working on the tree pits along Cortelyou Road from the subway station to Coney island Avenue. We removed all the accumulated garbage, weeded the pits, and planted Daffodil bulbs, which will bloom next April.

Please dispose of your commercial trash properly, at curb-side, and not in the tree pit.

I called 311 to register a complaint. They didn’t even have a category for this. They said they would add it to their system, and to call back in a few days. I can’t believe that noone has ever complained about this kind of thing before. If I have time, I’ll try calling Parks, who have responsibility and authority for tree pits, and ask them what to do the next time this happens.

I removed the trash from the pit after I took my photos.

Barbara Corcoran Hates the Earth

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Welcome, Apartment Therapy readers! If this story interests you, be sure to learn more by checking out the related posts linked at the end of this article.

Barbara Corcoran thinks the owner of this “townhouse” [sic] should chop down this maple tree, pave over the front yard, and park cars there instead to increase their property values.
1422 Beverly Road

Queens Crap has the goods on this (Daily News columnist advocates paving). I learned about it through Brooklyn Junction (Barbara Corcoran Weighs In On Proposed Yard Change), who was alerted to it by commenter “dbs” on his post about the Yards Text Amendment. I’ve read some excellent follow-up by my neighbor, Crazy Stable (Get a cement truck over there fast) and Forgotten New York (Cuckoo Corcoran).

Trees increase the selling prices of residential properties. Paving over the front yard will decrease the resale value of a home. It will also incur other annual costs to the homeowner, such as energy costs.

As a realtor (not just any realtor, “New York’s top realtor” the byline for her column asserts), Corcoran should know better. She should at least know better than to advise her readers out of ignorance. But then, it’s her Manhattan-myopic company that, even after years of doing business in Brooklyn and the other “outer” boroughs, has no category for “house” in their listings. And ascribes the name “Ditmas Park” to most of Victorian Flatbush. Not to mention she should know something about the Department of City Planning.

Barbara Corcoran thinks this is a townhouse.
1423 Albemarle Road
Oh, and as soon as possible they should chop down that pesky Cherry tree and pave over the front yard so they can park cars on it. She’s sure it will increase the property value.

Q. My wife and I have lived in Queens for the past 10 years and we plan on staying in the area for about another five. We are noticing lately that all of our neighbors are paving their yards and then use the space to park their cars on.

My wife has spent many hours cultivating her plants and would like to keep the garden, but I think having a driveway will help us increase the price of the house when it comes time to sell. What do you think?

A. Hey, a flower garden might look pretty and keep your wife happy, but the space in front of your house is worth a hell of a lot more as a driveway. [emphasis added]

You should know that the city council of Queens [sic, it’s the DCP proposal, the Yards Text Amendment] has just proposed a zoning change that would prohibit residents from paving their yards in some areas.

So get your wife on your side and get a cement truck over there fast.

– Ask Barbara, New York Daily News, November 8, 2007

What do you think? Leave a comment below. Even better, write Barbara herself.

[goo.gl]

Related Posts

Factoid: Street Trees and Property Values, December 2
The State of the Forest in New York City, November 12
Preserving Livable Streets: DCP’s Yards Text Amendment, November 6
Victorian Flatbush at risk from inappropriate zoning, October 23
Another reason to loathe real estate brokers, April 6
NASA Earth Observatory Maps NYC’s Heat Island, Block by Block, August 1, 2006

Links

Daily News columnist advocates paving, Queens Crap
Barbara Corcoran Weighs In On Proposed Yard Change, Brooklyn Junction
Yards Text Amendment, Brooklyn Junction
Get a cement truck over there fast, Crazy Stable
Cuckoo Corcoran, Forgotten New York

Footnotes

If you email Barbara Corcoran, you’ll get this robo-response:

Thanks for sending a question to “Ask Barbara”. Look for Barbara’s answer to your question in her “Ask Barbara” column appearing every Friday in Your Home only in the Daily News. Look for more real estate questions and Barbara’s helpful answers at www.nydailynews.com.

Would you like to speak to Barbara directly? Simply reply to this message with your full name, town and daytime phone number. You may be invited to ask your question on Barbara’s new show!

The title of this post comes from the Dilbert comic of June 19. Dogbert has been hired as a green-washing consultant for the company. He advises the pointy-haired boss, “Stop eating, breathing, driving, defecating, and procreating. Sit in the dark and decompose on some garden seeds. Or do you admit you hate the Earth?” The boss responds, “A little.” The cartoon was taken up by anti-environmental bloggers such as Moonbattery: “Thank you Dilbert, for attempting to rescue us from militant kooks who think the global warming hoax is real.”

This is not Barbara Corcoran
Jane Lynch as Christy Cummings in the movie 'Best in Show'