Under The Elms

06/12/2022

Under The Elms

On a recent morning while running through the park, I stopped to use the public bathroom and saw a flier about the elm trees. 'Fort Tryon Park has 4-dozen elm trees that are over 100 years old! These irreplaceable trees and their expansive shade canopy are in jeopardy of contracting Dutch elm disease. Your donation can help the Fort Tryon Park Trust underwrite a $55,000 inoculation treatment program to sustain the health, scenic, and ecological benefits of these majestic trees. A generous donor is providing a matching challenge grant. HELP US MEET THE MATCH. FortTryonParkTrust.org/donate.'

Sigh. Before I start complaining, let me begin by thanking everyone involved in saving these trees, whose beauty is -- objectively -- otherworldly. For as long as I've lived uptown (six hundred years and counting), I've gone to the park and almost every time I've made a point of stopping to admire these trees. They are the gods of whatever religion I follow.

But (commence complaining) what is our government (city, state, and federal) doing if it can't spend $55,000 on these trees? That's literally like a fraction of a penny in the grand scheme of things. It's the cost of ten nails for the Department of Defense, or one truckload of cement to refurbish an unused stretch of highway in ____.*

*I'm too lazy to find actual examples, but I'm sure they're out there!

Why do we have to rely on a 'matching donor'? And why can't the donor just shell out the $55,000?

And why can't Mayor Eric Adams, who is turning to be exactly as inept and unfocused as we all knew he'd be, give the parks department one percent of the city budget, as he promised to do in his campaign?

It's depressing to think about how much of our tax dollars are spent on weapons and police (and infrastructure for cars and oil), and how little is spent on things that really matter, like elm trees.

The theme of 2022 is turning out to be the same as it was in 2021 and 2020 and every year since at least 1968 2016. I'm worried about where we are and where we're going; I need to go stand under the elms and think about the possibility of good things.

Posted at 03:33 PM in Expression, Science Projects | Permalink

Comments

Agree about green space and our mayor! Thanks for a beautiful and informative post

Posted by: Maryellen Kernaghan | 06/12/2022 at 06:15 PM

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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine

Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.

Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past

Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.

Video: The Chaos Detective

The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.

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06/12/2022

Under The Elms

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