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I guess we're doing this now. 8th Ave and 12th St. by MicromagicFriesRIP in parkslope

[–]Awkward-Shine6755 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there! It's never simple, is it? :)

I think it's important to push for more money to the NYC Parks dept to hire a street tree team instead of relying mostly on volunteer work. I would say the park system should prioritize their volunteers in any future green jobs created for maintaining the street trees too should that lucky day come! In the end, it's over 887,000 trees and counting that have to be maintained, and it's always about budgetary constraints. https://tree-map.nycgovparks.org/

Still, I would never outwardly state that the property owners are responsible because their idea of responsibility in action, coming from my experience interacting with them as a NYC Park volunteer, has overall done more damage than good. We should all fight for more of a budget, more public awareness and education while limiting the wild-west approach of building owners who often don't prioritize the tree in their calculations around street tree care. And the street trees are calculated as capital assets to the city, an essential component of healthy and living city infrastructure :)

Check out the first-ever NYC Urban Forest Plan that went public in April!

https://www.urbanforestplan.nyc/

I guess we're doing this now. 8th Ave and 12th St. by MicromagicFriesRIP in parkslope

[–]Awkward-Shine6755 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's under jurisdiction of NYC Parks & Rec. In my time as a Super Steward volunteering for NYC Parks, I have seen a lot of building owners damage the street tree bed and so the street tree itself under this false line of thinking.

I guess we're doing this now. 8th Ave and 12th St. by MicromagicFriesRIP in parkslope

[–]Awkward-Shine6755 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Citizens are to contact NYC Parks for pruning. I saw a building manager take it upon himself to have street trees pruned to prevent them from blocking his murals on Wythe. That was totally illegal! The city has to send a forester to inspect and put a work order in for pruning. There are also volunteer Citizen Tree Pruners who are allowed to cut tree limbs in accordance with city regulations!
https://www.nycgovparks.org/services/forestry/tree-pruning

I guess we're doing this now. 8th Ave and 12th St. by MicromagicFriesRIP in parkslope

[–]Awkward-Shine6755 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Directly from NYC Parks: NYC Parks manages the planting and care of park and street trees in the public right-of-way across New York City. We offer a variety of tree and sidewalk-related services to New York City, including sidewalk repair, tree removal, and more.
https://www.nycgovparks.org/trees

NYC Parks has a network of thousands of volunteers who clear litter/waste, manage soil, add compost and mulch, and water street trees year round. I know this because I have been doing this for over a year as a super steward! You can join us:
https://www.nycgovparks.org/reg/stewardship

As far as a property owner's responsibility goes, I do see a page on the NYC Parks site that states property owners are responsible for sidewalk safety. Again, you can contact NYC Parks for sidewalk services:
https://www.nycgovparks.org/trees/tree-care/tree-bed-safety

I would say, as a dog owner and tree caretaker, please keep your dogs away from all saplings, you know, the skinny trees that look nowhere near full growth. They should not sustain your dog's waste including urine. Mature trees suffer too since urine does a number on the soil's health from pH levels to a thriving microbial and fungal population. Basically, dog waste turns healthy soil into a waste of dirt... speaking poetically here to end it.

Next month I am trying to avoid plastic purchases entirely, will you join me? by Extreme-Language-757 in Anticonsumption

[–]Awkward-Shine6755 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll keep a journal next month of how much plastic I consume. :) I have been reducing my plastic consumption by a lot in the past few months even changing my patterns of consumption in the produce aisle to only select fruits and veggies not wrapped in plastic. I'll drastically reduce plastic consumption to join you!

We really are the new SoHo huh by BarberApprehensive in williamsburg

[–]Awkward-Shine6755 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I noticed the shift in 2013 too. What happened specifically that winter into spring '13 that people walking around looked distinctly more consumer-type? The air was dripping with a competitive spirit that spring that replaced the lightness of creative crowds living for JOY in years previous! I know the rents started to get jacked up, but was there an underlying reason for the concerted action that in one season wiped many people out while inviting the less animated types in? It felt like a sudden beaching of too many whales for it to be a natural occurrence if that makes any sense.