“Spread Love the Brooklyn Gives Way” on a cone.
Brooklyn Community Foundation
When your need a little Xmas
COURIER L 30 IFE, DEC. 3–9, 2021
BROOKLYN
The Social’s new scoop benefi ts
Brooklyn racial justice groups
BY BEN VERDE
A new fl avor at Prospect
Heights ice cream spot The Social
is offering more than just
a sweet treat, but a way to support
local racial justice organizations.
All sales from the new fl avor
dubbed “Spread Love…
The Brooklyn Gives Way”
will go to benefi t the Brooklyn
Gives Campaign from the
Brooklyn Community Foundation,
which connects donors to
racial justice groups throughout
the borough. The partnership
is the fi rst through The
Social’s “Churn for Change”
community partnerships program.
“We could not think of a
better partner for our fi rst
Churn for Change fundraiser
to support local nonprofi ts,”
said Jackie Cuscuna, the coowner
of The Social who previously
founded Ample Hills
Creamery with her husband
Brian Smith. “We are all about
supporting our neighbors, and
we’re thrilled that the new fl avor…
makes doing so just a little
sweeter.”
The new fl avor consists of a
vanilla malted ice cream base,
with chocolate cheesecake and
rainbow cookies sprinkled
throughout, representing the
diversity of Kings County.
Ideas for the fl avor and
its name were crowdsourced
from Brooklynites by The Social
and the Brooklyn Community
Foundation, with
those who contributed to the
winning idea getting two free
pints of the new fl avor and a
gift card with which to donate
to local nonprofi ts of their
choosing.
The opportunity to dream
up your own ice cream for a
cause runs through December.
The Brooklyn Gives campaign
launched on Nov. 9 with
the goal of raising $1 million
for hyper-local nonprofi ts by
Nov. 30.
“Because all proceeds from
the purchase of the new fl avor
benefi t the #BrooklynGives
campaign through December,
there are plenty of opportunities
for Brooklynites to indulge
while doing good for
their neighbors,” said Marcella
Tillett, vice president of
programs and partnerships
at the Brooklyn Community
Foundation.
816 Washington Avenue and
St. John’s Place in Prospect
Heights, thesocialbrooklyn.
com.
BY HAEVEN GIBBONS
For the past 38 years “Greg’s
Trees” has been spreading
the holiday cheer and supplying
joyful New Yorkers with
Christmas trees.
Greg Walsh started the business,
selling trees from a small
stand on a Brooklyn street
corner — but he’s grown the
idea, and now, he runs some of
the largest tree stands in New
York City.
“I love doing it,” Walsh said.
“I love meeting the families
and the kids coming in, they
are so excited. We try to make
every sale a fun experience
and we work hard for it.”
Walsh’s fi ve unique stands,
located throughout the city,
provide much more than
Christmas trees. His stands
feature crafts, hand-painted
Christmas cut-outs for photoops,
sleds, wooden reindeer,
visits from Santa and holiday
markets with custom wreaths,
decorations, centerpieces, ornaments,
lights and tree toppers.
“Nobody’s got what we’ve
got in New York,” said Eric
Kang, one of Walsh’s crew
members who helps manage
the tree stands and sell trees.
But before Walsh started
selling trees in the winter, he
was selling fruit at in Manhattan
during the middle of the
summer.
Walh, 19, started selling
fruit over the summer after
his freshman year at the State
University of New York at New
Paltz. When the summer was
over, he went back to school for
one semester, before dropping
out 25 credits into his business
degree.
He sold fruit full-time for
the next 12 years.
The heat rising off the city
streets during the Manhattan
summer pushes most people
inside. But not Walsh. He
didn’t mind the heat or waking
up before dawn to unload the
trucks of fruit.
“Not a minute of that entire
12 years did I wish the day was
quicker,” Walsh said. “I wished
that it was longer. I enjoyed every
minute of it, and it was brutal
work.”
Three years into selling
fruit in the summer and pumpkins
in the fall, Walsh decided
to sell Christmas trees come
November.
During that fi rst season,
in 1983, Walsh sold trees with
his partners from two “winky
dinky little stands” in Brooklyn
and Queens, he said. But
just four years later, they were
running eight stands. In 1995
Walsh went back to school
to become a school teacher
and taught special education
classes to 18 and 19 year-olds.
For ten years he only ran one
stand, but he never stopped
selling trees.
This year, Walsh has a new
stand at Domino Park in Williamsburg
where 2,000 trees
will fi ll the parking lot by Friday,
making it one of Walsh’s
largest tree stands ever. On December
5, there will be a tree
lighting of a 20-foot tree and
visits from Santa and other
holiday characters.
“We’re doing more than
we’ve ever done, and I think
people are going to like it,”
Walsh said. “We have great
trees, and it’s really going to
be something special.”
Walsh sells balsam, fraser,
silver, nordmann and noble
trees. A chalkboard at the
tree stand in Domino Park
describes the different types
of trees. The balsam is traditional
and fragrant while the
fraser is the most popular
and the silver is the “next big
thing.”
Walsh is the go-to treeman.
But for a few days out of
the year, he doubles as Santa
Clause.
On some of the busiest days
of the year for Christmas tree
sales, Walsh isn’t in his truck
driving from stand to stand to
check on his crew. He is sitting
in a wooden sleigh chanting
“Ho, Ho, Ho.”
“I put the Santa suit on and
get in the sled and everything
just runs,” Walsh said.
In past years, Walsh always
tried to have Santa come
to his stands. One year, the
hired Santa didn’t show up.
Everyone looked at Walsh
whose long white beard and
jolly smile only meant one
thing. Ever since, Walsh has
grown out his beard for the
Christmas tree season so he
can dress as St. Nick and entertain
the crowds who gather
at his stands.
Flavor of love
Meet the man supplying Brooklyn with Christmas trees
Greg Walsh, owner of Greg’s Trees, at his Domino Park tree stand location
where thousands of trees will be on sale for the holiday season.
Photo by Haeven Gibbons