Parks hopes to replace trees on the cheap

From the Times Ledger:

Nearly three months after a microburst decimated McDonald Park in Forest Hills, the once-shady green space has remained nearly treeless, but the city has a plan.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said the city Parks Department will partner with a nonprofit hopefully to replace the trees by next spring.

“We have been reaching out with different organizations to help with donations for park trees,” she said.

One group that responded was the New York Restoration Project, which will visit the park along with department officials Jan. 7 to assess the damage and devise a plan to replace the trees.

In McDonald Park, 58 trees were destroyed by the storm, and many of them were little-leaf lindens, which gave the park its character, according to Lewandowski.

“They are very nice, ornamental trees that would flower or fruit at different times of the year,” she said, “and would give the park that little extra spark.”

The trees have not been replaced yet because the city focuses on street trees before it deals with foliage in the park. In addition, money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides aid in the aftermath of disasters, does not cover trees. And the large plants are not cheap.

The city shops for the replacements in nurseries throughout the tri-state area, where one tree can end up costing anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on its size, age and how it is planted.

If the city has to hire contractors to install the trees, as it does with street trees, the cost will increase. But if residents volunteer to help plant the trees, the process becomes much cheaper.