(From the Editor) context / w b u r g

From the Editor

Letters & Trees: A Two Point Plan

The last three months have been full of struggles for North Brooklyn residents. The fight against the waterfront power plants intensified as residents found out another larger plant is planned for the Bayside Oil property at N 12th St and Kent. The power plant at N 1st St has been under construction, often around the clock (thanks to a 24-hour emergency work permit) despite a pending legal action Williamsburg Watch continues to organize the community against these plants together with Stop the Barge, GWAPP, and NAG. In this issue of WBURG, you can see a photo essay of a recent protest by photographer Meredith Allen.

On the housing front, the Brooklyn Live-Work Coalition has been fighting to include Brooklyn lofts in an expansion of the Loft Law being considered by the New York State Assembly (pending as WBURG goes online). Meanwhile, residents of the Gretch on Broadway in South Williamsburg continue to live and work without electricity or hot water while the landlord continues to court high-tech, high-rent tenants. Someone needs to tell him about the stock market…

I don't think I'm the only one in the neighborhood who's felt beleaguered by all this, plus the usual barrage of garbage, air pollution, and greed. How to stem the tide (or tsunami, as it more often seems)? My two answers are letters and trees.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

It's important to write letters. An individual letter carries a lot of weight, since most people don't go to the trouble, and costs a mere 34 cents. A bargain. Find out who your local, state, and federal representatives are at www.nypirg.com (or other sites like it), and write them. Write to businesses that are doing something good for the neighborhood, and write to businesses that are doing something bad, like Bayside Oil. Write to state and local governmental agencies, like the DEP, DEC, and EPA to tell them what you think. NYPA, the New York State Power Authority, has even suggested you call them with suggestions for emissions reductions in the neighborhood. Give Joe Leary a call at (914) 390-8184. Want your local grocery store to carry more organic produce? Want your local representative to stand up for renter's rights? Want your city representatives to procure more funding for parks? Speak up. Write letters. As Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world."

So I've been writing a lot of letters lately, and I hope you'll join me. They don't have to be fancy—it's probably better if they're not. Once a week, make time to write a letter. Just state your points briefly, thank the person for her or his time, then sign, seal, stamp, and send it. Then encourage your neighbors to do the same. It's as easy as that.

A Forest Grows in Brooklyn

Street trees are an integral part of the New York City ecology (yes, Virginia, there is an urban environment), and neighborhood pride. We need more trees, not less, and more importantly, we need more people to care for them.

I recently completed Trees New York's Citizen Pruner Certification course. It made me realize that I've been taking our urban jungle for granted. Street trees live in very stressful conditions—just like the rest of us. Only trees can't escape for a weekend in the country when they're feeling a bit wilty.

Trees in the city live in near drought conditions for most of their lives, and not just because of lack of rain. Even when it does rain many trees don't get enough water because cement and asphalt block water from soaking into the soil. And the dirt around many trees is compacted so thoroughly that it might as well be cement. Take a look next time it rains. See puddles of standing water around the base of a tree near you? That's probably a sign of severely compacted soil, and a tree that needs your help.

Besides the lack of water, street trees also have to contend with an endless parade of pooches lifting their legs or squatting on their precious patches of dirt. While a tree leading a more natural life might be able to tolerate the ammonia and other toxins Fido leaves behind, street trees are under so much stress and face such an endless supply of Fido and friends, that they often die from the toxins. Ever see a tree with a large gash starting at ground level and ripping up one side of the tree? That's probably caused by ammonia build up from dog urine.

And that's not all. Other toxins abound in the urban environment. Road salt, motor oil, and bleach all poison trees, especially when water is scarce. On top of that, urban trees have to content with poor soil conditions (often caused by ruble in the soil throwing pH out of whack), blows from cars and trucks, vandalism, and air pollution. And that's all in addition to natural pests, which are more likely to attack a stressed out tree.

Want to help your local trees? Here are the top ten things you can do to help cultivate our urban forest:

Water trees — street trees need all the water they can get. Water at least once a week for at least 20 minutes, allowing the water to soak slowly into the soil. 15 to 20 gallons of water a week from late spring through early fall is critical to street trees' survival.

Aerate soil — help trees absorb water and access oxygen by cultivating the soil. Use a small hand rake to work the top two inches of soil loose so water can be absorbed.

Clean up — remove trash from tree pits and branches. Get rid of string, cords, and wires wrapped around trees as well as bricks, stones, or cement close to the tree trunk. All these things can choke and eventually kill a tree.

Keep dogs away — post signs and educate neighborhood dog owners to curb their pets.

Plant ivy and flowers — planting ivy, bulbs, and small annuals around the bases of street trees shows that someone is caring for the tree. It also helps deflect some dog urine, and reminds you when the tree needs watering (small flowers wilt faster than big trees). Don't plant around young trees that have been in place for a year or less, and don't plant shrubs or bushes, which will compete too much for scarce water.

Install a fence — install a low fence around your tree to protect it from pedestrians, dogs, cars, and bikes.

Feed the trees — animals aren't the only ones who need to eat. Mix a 2 inch layer of humus into the soil and mulch with a 2 or 3 inch layer of shredded leaves or coarse wood chips. You'll be helping the tree conserve water, deterring weeds, and improving soil fertility.

Request a tree — to request a tree in front of your home or business, call the community board (389-0009) to have your name added to the list for a free tree. You can also obtain permits and hire a contractor yourself, or call Trees New York (212-227-1887). They'll take care of the process for you, for an additional 20%. Remember to choose an approved street tree, and one that fits your conditions. Consider the growing space, the pH of the soil, and try to pick an underrepresented tree for your area. Planting many trees of the same type together makes them more susceptible to pests and diseases.

Learn more — find a good tree identification book and learn common street trees like Ginkgo Biloba, Callery Pear, Pin Oak, Norway Maple, Littleleaf Linden, Honey Locust, Golden Rain Tree, London Plane Tree, and Chinese Scholar Tree. Take classes at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (www.bbg.org) to learn more about tree care. Sign up for their Street Tree Pit Gardening class on August 18 by calling 623-7220. You can also take Trees NY's Citizen Pruner Class and learn how to prune and care for street trees. The next round of citizen pruner classes will take place in the fall. For more information, visit the Trees NY website at www.treesny.org.

Volunteer — the Parks Department, with its perpetually shrinking budget, is always looking for volunteers to care for trees in parks and in the Greenstreets program (traffic triangles, many near the BQE). Visit the Parks Department nyc.gov/parks or Partnerships for Parks partnershipsforparks.org websites for more information.

If everyone who reads this follows the two-point plan (what could be easier?), taking a few minutes every week to write a letter and care for a street tree, we'll have the neighborhood in shape in no time.

Kirsten Hively is the editor of WBURG. She lives and works in Williamsburg.

A Gingko street tree in Williamsburg. Gingkos have a distinctive fan-shaped leaf. Gingko extract is often used as a dietary supplement to aid circulation.

A London Plane street tree in Williamsburg. London Plane trees are a cross of two kinds of sycamores. The London Plane tree leaf is the symbol of the New York City Parks department. No new plantings of London Plane street trees are allowed as it is overplanted.

A Callery Pear street tree in Williamsburg. Callery Pear trees are related to regular pear trees, but have only a minuscule fruit. They have showy white flowers in the spring. You can find Callery Pear trees along Graham Avenue, on Havemeyer near the bus depot, and again on Havemeyer near Metropolitan.

A young Ailanthus tree in Williamsburg. Ailanthus is the famous tree described in Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. They are famous for their resilience, and are often found growing in unlikely locations in the space between buildings, in vacant lots, and even on rooftops. The Ailanthus, also called the Tree of Heaven, grows very quickly and so isn't very strong and can break in high winds. For this reason they are not approved for use as street trees.

A young Little-leaf Linden street tree in Williamsburg. The leaves of linden trees are dark green on top and a much lighter silvery color on the underside. Linden trees have small yellow flowers (you can see them on the right side of this picture) with a strong perfume.

A Maple street tree in Williamsburg. Maples have beautiful fall foliage, but their relatively shallow roots often heave the sidewalk.

A young oak street tree in Williamsburg. Oaks grow to be very stately, shady trees, but they are slow growing and prone to yellowing of the leaves in alkaline soil.

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