BY KEVIN DUGGAN
These trees must die so that
others may live!
The leader of a non-profi t
dedicated to maintaining Fort
Greene Park came out in favor
of a controversial scheme
hatched by the Parks Department
to chop down dozens
of trees at the beloved green
space, saying the trees targeted
for destruction are preventing
other, better plants from taking
root.
“Its roots and canopy are
so dense with the shade, that
things don’t grow underneath
it. So yes, we like trees,
but these types of trees are
not friendly to other types of
plants and habitats,” said Rosamond
Fletcher, the executive
director of the Fort Greene
Conservancy, a non-profi t that
works closely with the city on
the park’s upkeep and for hosting
events there.
The city wants to destroy
a total of 83 trees, 52 to make
COURIER L 20 IFE, OCT. 11-17, 2019
way for a grand paved plaza
at the Myrtle Avenue and St.
Edwards Street corner of Fort
Greene Park, and another 31 to
accommodate a redesign the
park near Myrtle Avenue and
Washington Park.
But the plan hit a roadblock
after local residents and environmentalists
fi led a lawsuit
against the city in state
Supreme Court in April , demanding
offi cials conduct an
environmental review of their
plaza scheme to determine
whether replacing trees with
concrete paving would create a
hot zone that could negatively
affect surrounding wildlife.
But the idea that the Parks
Department wants to replace
a crop of trees with nothing
but concrete is nonsense, according
to Fletcher, who said
the felled trees will be largely
replaced by a so-called “understory
garden” consisting
of younger trees, shurbs, and
ferns that will help prevent
Fort Greene Park Conservancy Executive Director Rosamond Fletcher points out a young Elm which allows for
understory gardens around its base. Photo by Kevin Duggan
erosion and provide a better
habitat for Brooklyn’s birds
and bugs.
“They help other trees with
their roots, they help with habitats
for birds and pollinators
and all of that good stuff,” she
said. “When we think about
the environmental health of
the park, we’re not just thinking
about the health of the
trees, we’re thinking about everything.”
An attorney for the plaintiffs
accused Fletcher of trying
to help the city dodge a transparent
environmental review,
saying if the city was so interested
in creating an ecological
wonderland, their laywers
might have mentioned the
vaunted understory garden
during oral arguments held
last month.
“They’re just coming up
with some rationale for what
they’re doing and they keep
thinking of reasons to support
their position to not do an environmental
review, which is untenable,”
said Richard Lippes.
“The undergrowth issue was
never made by the Parks Department
in their oral arguments.”
Instead, the city is really
just interested in ramming
through its chosen design regardless
of the environmental
hazards, according to Lippes,
who noted a previous lawsuit
regarding the plaza plan that
revealed Parks Department
claim that the trees were targeted
due to poor health was a
bald-faced lie .
“You’ve got mature trees
that give excellent shade which
cannot be replaced for 30-40
years if you plant new trees,”
he said.
Park steward
backs Fort Greene
Park arboricide
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