Flushing High School has some poorly installed trees

The QC passed by Flushing High a few days ago and noticed the street trees there were not looking well.

So we contacted a tree expert.

"Greetings.

These Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) street trees have been in declining health for well over a decade. For the years that they've resided here they should be healthy and of incredible size but they are not.

Many factors may be behind their poor health but I suspect that the tree health problems started at the time of installation by Parks as either inferior tree stock from the tree nursery (trees that we refer to as culls b/c the Forester did not bother to inspect the trees for quality in advance of their arrival to the job site), or an improper placement into the planting hole by the landscape contractors.

Improper installation? How can that be?

There's far more of the tree installation process than one imagines. We take tree planting for granted and its goes far beyond just simply digging a hole and rolling in the tree. Yet throughout the 7 year PLaNYC Million Tree program, it was observed that Parks Forestry contractors repeatedly installed thousands of street trees improperly. That is b/c the daily inspections for compliance to the Parks Forestry tree planting specifications would have taken them away from other important tasks. Nothing is more important in the tree installation process than making sure the trees are installed properly. And we as recipients of a NYC tree planting program should demand more accountability on the return of the tree installation investment.

As an aside find attached NYC DPR Tree Map information and the attached pdf of a cypress tree and the benefits that it should provide.

https://tree-map.nycgovparks.org/#treeinfo-4141725

https://sma.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/CTs_Jan_Baldcypress.pdf

Just to let you know that the Kissena Park Civic general meeting is scheduled for April 6 7PM at Marys Nativity Parish Center, NWC of Parsons and Jasmine.

Guest speaker will be DEP Green Infrastructure people speaking on the bioswales issues.

Cheers."

- Carsten W. Glaeser

High schools to close and reopen

From the Daily News:

The future of eight large Queens high schools — and the hundreds of educators who work there — are in jeopardy as the city plans to overhaul the struggling institutions.

The schools could lose up to half of their staff and receive a new principal and name this fall after the city and teachers union failed to reach an agreement on teacher evaluations.

The move could help the city get up to $60 million in federal funds.

Kathy Carlson, president of the Parents Association at Grover Cleveland High School, in Ridgewood, blames the school’s poor graduation rate on its large number of students who aren’t fluent in English — and therefore take longer to finish high school.

Other Queens schools facing a turn-around include Flushing High School; Long Island City High School; William Cullen Bryant High School, in Long Island City; John Adams High School, in Ozone Park; Newtown High School, in Elmhurst; and Richmond Hill High School.

Queens: Vibrant, diverse and full of dropouts!