A Tree (Doesn’t) Grow on Henry Street

By on April 26, 2010 4:59 pm in Nature

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A BHB reader sends us this missive along with photo:

I’m wondering if there’s a good reason why the tree well on Henry Street facing Clark’s Restaurant, at Clark and Henry, is perpetually empty– no tree!   I know why it’s always rutted with tire marks– delivery trucks find it convenient to pull up on the sidewalk and idle there– but shouldn’t city (and we, the community) prefer a tree there, instead?

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  • http://twitter.com/ReverendMoose Jonathan Morris

    Surely a simple maple would only cost $50 :) Japanese maple..

  • David G.

    I’ve been wondering the same thing now. There are actually multiple tree wells near that church that have the stumps of young trees cut off. I always see Fire Trucks (visiting Clark’s Restaurant) and church goers using those areas to park their cars. Maybe they had intentionally prevented trees from growing there? We could always ask Million Trees NYC to help replenish these empty wells.

  • David G.

    I meant to say that I’ve been wondering the same thing “for awhile” now.

  • my2cents

    That truck is in the bike lane. The scandal!

  • mike

    my2, you beat me to it! If its not a church van, its a UPS truck.

    I do think though the fact that the UPS truck finds it necessary to park on the sidewalk is proof enough that there is not enough room on that block for parking on both sides of the street (bike lane or no bike lane). Not to rehash an old argument, but some of the churchgoers also drive wide vehicles…

  • nabeguy

    Unless a mature bumper-bending oak can be dropped into that spot, no sapling stands a chance.

  • martinlbrooklyn

    Yes, a tree. But, for that spot especially, real hunky, cement-lined steel pipes to protect it. This should be a job for our BHA.

  • WillowSt.

    I say we just plant a tree there in the middle of the night when no one is around. How about Saturday night?

  • LSK

    I walk past this empty pit every day and very much agree, it would be nice if there were a tree in it.

  • http://www.bestmugshotever.com othersideofthebridge

    Why doesn’t it stand a chance? Is the UPS truck going to drive on the sidewalk by force of habit and run it over once it’s there?

  • Betty Smith

    I suggest a Ailanthus altissima (Tree of Heaven) for this spot, which would be ironic in so many ways. But isn’t it really all about the people and not the tree? Might this not be a metaphor for our missing roots from our community and the absence of connections in our growing suburbia, which don’t allow us to flourish? Discuss in 5 pages. Papers are due on Monday. Yes, spelling and grammar counts.

  • epc

    I vaguely recall a tree being planted there after the diner did its 30 day gut renovation in 2005? 2006? The tree lasted no more than a couple of months.

  • George Earl

    Be it known, please, that the owner of Clark’s was the one who paid for the tree that adorned that now-muddy empty 4-by-4-foot hole for many years. Even placed a protective metal fence ’round it, planted cheerful blooming plants therein. And largely because trucks ’rounding the racetrack corner (Henry and Clark Streets) tended to deem that area their parking spots, that oh-so-relaxing tree we were given to look out upon while sipping our coffee was one day gone forever, leveled. Should that muddy square be replaced by Clark’s owner? No way! And yes, I’m one of Clark’s most dependable customers. Let’s see NYC start a’ planting!

  • Monty

    Maybe a Tire Spikes Tree would serve multiple purposes here.

  • David G.

    I just submitted a request w/ million trees nyc to put new trees in that well and the one south of it. We’ll see what happens.

  • Andrew Porter

    Does anyone remember how the tree that was in front of what’s now a parking lot next to the Lady of Lebanon church at Remsen and Henry was deliberately girdled—that is, the bark was cut so the tree would die—a decade or so ago, so the church could pave the bit on the left and make a parking lot? How soon we forget…

    If anyone wants a tree there, it should be planted with anti-truck barricades in place to protect it.