Survival of Two Species

by John Cannizzo

After many delays we started the Tree Planting Project. With our partner, the Hunts Point Multi-Service Center, we will be planting 28 street trees. This is not a grant but a contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

They had received funding to plant street trees in order to study the mitigation on heat island effect of increased canopy. Community groups are identifying the sites and taking responsibility for stewardship of the planting.

A New York City street tree only has a 50% chance of survival. The secondary aim of the program is to study the effect of increased community involvement on survival rates. Most community groups awarded contracts are hiring a professional contractor to plant the trees. We are the only non-profit community based organization that is planting the tress with community volunteers.

We are working directly with Megan Sheremata of the Department of Environmental Conservation. She is teaching the interns to use a hand-held computer programmed with global positioning system to inventory all the new plantings. She is also monitoring our planting method and speaking to the interns about environmental awareness and demonstrating horticultural techniques. She also talks to the interns about environmental justice. The heat island effect is most pronounced in poorest neighborhoods.

The trees stipulated by Department of Parks and Recreation are also carefully chosen. Golden Rain Tree for low overhead wires, and Locust and Zelcova are both tough survivors.

Planting big trees is a very specialized skill. The trees must be moved into position very carefully. Abrasions can become vectors for disease. Once a tree is in the pit there is no getting it out again.

It is a cold damp day but the interns seem happy. We started on Thanksgiving week so the six weeks of impractical gifts hadn't started yet. It is just another day. People stop to ask what we are doing. The sky is grey. Out of school adolescents from Federation Education Guidance Service (FEGS), many of whom have been remanded to the program through the courts, will work on this planting. They all live in the area.

This year 95% of all the FEGS interns that worked with The Horticultural Society of New York ended up getting jobs or going on to colleges.

* All photos courtesy of John Cannizzo.

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Hank (yellow vest), an HSNY intern, is working with two interns from FEGS that are training with us as part of our program. It was still nice when we started excavating the existing tree pits. Besides horticultural knowledge the interns gather environmental awareness. These kinds of skills enhance self-esteem. This season there is an intern working with us that is afflicted with cerebral palsy. He does not want to be treated any different than anyone else. His attendance has been perfect and he often stays to do additional work on a freelance basis.

The HSNY and FEGS interns presented consistently high attentiveness to the demonstrations of the instructors. James shows how to measure for caliper. Most all the interns have now been with us at least 6 weeks and some for up to five months. Wilson is not here. He relapsed and this was Henry's last project before he relapsed. Overall, two interns were rearrested, three relapsed and ten interns are completing the program. Two others have found work in gardening and carpentry.

The students get along very well the adolescents and the adults seldom show any kind of anger. They soon formed bonds. Now during the winter the interns will work on their resumes. Learning to speak about their experiences and skills is essential in the next step which is the job search. At that point they will have to adapt to the complex world of work. They will need to develop understanding of all aspects of work both generally and also individually.