Shade arrives on Hunter’s Point blocks that went years without a single new tree
Neighbors, the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy and NYC Parks put 30 shade trees on Long Island City blocks that have gone without them for years.
About two dozen residents grabbed shovels on Oct. 9 to help put 30 trees in the ground near Hunter’s Point South Park. Working with the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy and NYC Parks, the volunteers targeted streets in the Queens neighborhood that have had no shade trees for years.
Crews from NYC Parks Tree Time led the planting along Center Boulevard from 48th to 50th avenues, as well as in a linear park that stretches from Center Boulevard to 2nd Street. Pin oak, plane trees, honey locust, boxelder and birch all went in, species picked because they do well in New York City conditions.
Fighting the urban heat island in Long Island City
The goal is to bring down temperatures in a neighborhood dominated by pavement. On blocks where trees are sparse, the thermometer can read up to 10 degrees higher than on leafy ones, according to Jessica Sechrist, the conservancy’s executive director. Because Long Island City grew up as an industrial area, she said, it has little parkland and is mostly concrete. Trees help by casting shade and releasing moisture into the air, according to Sechrist.
Rob Basch, who heads the conservancy as president, said some of this month’s planting sites had gone more than a decade without a new tree. By his count, the neighborhood sits 57th among the city’s 59 community districts in green space per resident. “Trees are supposed to be here,” he said.
How the $50,000 tree planting was paid for
The conservancy put $20,000 toward the $50,000 effort. An Arbor Day Foundation grant paid for the remainder.
Shade is still scarce elsewhere in Long Island City, most of all in its industrial section. Sechrist singled out the stretch of Vernon Boulevard connecting Queensbridge Houses with the waterfront parks at Gantry Plaza and Hunter’s Point South. The conservancy held a youth program over the summer at the Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement, and Sechrist said the trip on foot from Queensbridge Houses was hard on the kids taking part and on their families. “It’s a very hot walk,” she said. The conservancy plans to push for trees there the next time the city plants in the area.
The city now aims its plantings at communities that have historically had less tree cover than the citywide average, part of an Urban Forest Plan that seeks 30% canopy coverage by 2040.
Quick answers
Where were the new trees planted in Long Island City?
On Center Boulevard between 48th and 50th avenues and in a linear park between Center Boulevard and 2nd Street, near Hunter's Point South Park.
Who paid for the Hunter's Point tree planting?
The $50,000 project was funded by $20,000 from the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy and a grant from the Arbor Day Foundation.
