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“When I moved here, we didn’t know about the resiliency project,” Mr. Serra acknowledges. “We learned about it a few months later. To its credit, the BPCA’s approach has been very participative, with many opportunities for community to weigh in.”
Another member of the SaveBPCTrees group, Mary Elizabeth Simpson, says, “I wish the Authority would follow the Battery Conservancy’s lead. They used barges in the Hudson River instead of ripping out landscaping to drive in and park heavy equipment.”
The BPCA replies, “where the work to be performed is close enough to the water’s edge to make work via barge feasible, barges will be utilized. This includes along the North Esplanade, next to Belvedere Plaza and the Ferry Terminal, in the North Cove Marina area, and along the South Esplanade in front of Gateway Plaza.”
Britni Erez, also a member of SaveBPCTrees, said, “as far back as 2022, we asked for preservation of mature trees, preservation of the character of the parks and neighborhood, minimal disruption to existing parks and green spaces, and nature-based resiliency solutions that prioritize green over concrete.”
In response, the BPCA says that the North/West Resiliency plan provides for a 25-plus net increase in the number of trees in Battery Park City after the resilience project is completed. The agency has identified “a way to plant 60 of these replacement trees to be within 15 feet of the flood barrier system.”
The Authority also points to more than a dozen instances of incorporating community feedback into the North/West Resiliency design, such as maintaining the current location of the ferry terminal (which was originally slated to be moved), preserving the Rockefeller Park Lily Pond (initially marked for demolition), and removing from the scheme a viewing platform originally planned for Kowsky Plaza.
Mr. Galloway said residents and CB1 have repeatedly pressed BPCA to reduce impacts to the tree canopy during years of meetings. “Tree impacts have been debated extensively for more than six years,” he said. “BPCA has consistently said it shares the goal of minimizing removals, and there have been revisions over time. But there are difficult tradeoffs, because the flood infrastructure has to fit into a narrow corridor between the waterfront and the areas inland that need protection.”
“At every opportunity, residents raised have concerns about the trees,” Mr. Serra says. “But this doesn’t seem reflected in the resulting plan. Just the opposite: the number of trees to be cut down is growing.”
“Yes, resiliency is very important,” Mr. Serra says. “But we need to balance this against the value of those trees. Because of their size and age, each one saved makes a big difference. My sense is that they are not optimizing for trees. These is still an opportunity to make this better—instead of 500 trees lost, maybe we can limit the damage to 100 or 200.”
The BPCA says that approximately 190 trees have already been cut down, with some 310 remaining to be felled. In terms of averting any of these pending removals, the Authority says “the project team has already worked diligently to minimize tree removals to the greatest extent possible, and each tree in the project area was already assessed for potential removal, protection, or transplantation.”
“Even now, most people don’t understand the impacts,” Mr. Serra says. “In some areas of the project, the majority of trees will be chopped down. And even though they plan to replant hundreds of trees, it will take many years, maybe decades, before we have the same shade cover.”
Alice Blank, chair of CB1’s Environmental Protection Committee, observes, “flood protection for Lower Manhattan is essential—but so is preserving the natural elements that help us fight climate change. Mature trees provide shade, reduce heat gain, and support sustainability in ways that newly planted saplings simply cannot replicate for decades. These are not competing values; they are both essential to a livable, resilient community.”
The BPCA says its resiliency project “will provide for a diversity in tree age at the time of planting. Approximately one-third of the trees proposed to be replanted along the esplanade and throughout Battery Park City will range from four- to eight-inch trunk caliper, which means that these trees will be several years old at the time of planting (i.e., not young saplings). The balance will be three-inch caliper or are multi-trunk species and thus are not measured by trunk diameter, but rather by height, which is anticipated to be eight to 14 feet at the time of planting. Tree purchases will be timed to allow for uninterrupted growth in nurseries before planting occurs.”
Ms. Blank adds, “during its review of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement, CB1 formally raised concerns about the number of trees slated for removal and encouraged BPCA to examine whether the clearance requirements between trees and flood barrier systems might offer an opportunity to limit removals, an avenue we hope will still receive serious consideration as the project moves forward.”
The BCPA replies that the North/West Resiliency project “has been designed to minimize tree clearing. As a general matter, trees have been designated for removal due to construction either because they are located within the limits of work or because they are sufficiently close to such areas that the root zones of the trees would be impacted.” One issue in this context is that the structural integrity and functionality of the flood barrier system requires that trees be kept at a minimum distance from the system’s wall and gates.
Mr. Galloway said the physical constraints are especially severe in some portions of the project. “The space limitations are most acute along the South Esplanade,” he noted. “After spending years wrestling with the conflict between flood protection and tree preservation, I’ve reluctantly become reconciled to the fact that a considerable number of trees may be lost during construction. I don’t like it, but I also think protecting Lower Manhattan from severe coastal flooding is necessary.”
Mr. Serra says his group’s next steps are “to shed more light on what is happening, and do increased outreach with other residents, so we can raise awareness and build momentum. By working with elected officials, we hope to bring more oversight and more accountability to the project.”
“The danger with a large, complicated project like this,” he predicts, “is that the dynamic evolves into cutting down trees for the convenience of contractors, because it is faster and easier and cheaper than preserving them. We want to make it harder to cut down trees, instead of easier. And we want to make it easier to change the plan than keep it as is, so that fewer trees will be cut. This should be the path of least resistance.”
The distinction between construction necessity and contractor convenience was discussed at the May 7 meeting of CB1’s Battery Park City Committee, where Mr. Galloway urged the BPCA to scrutinize every proposed removal individually. “If a tree interferes with the structure of a flood wall, it may need to go,” he said. “If a tree directly blocks necessary construction access, that may also be unavoidable. But if a mature tree is being removed simply because it is easier or cheaper for a contractor to clear-cut an area instead of working around it, then that tree should stay. The standard should be necessity, not convenience.”
The BPCA points to four safeguards designed to prevent contractors from cutting down additional trees to expedite work: “The design team reviews and approves shop drawings confirming the trees to be removed; BPCA’s construction quality assurance team is always in the field providing oversight on work performed; whenever tree removals are scheduled, BPCA’s horticulture team is present to confirm accuracy; and the project team arborist produces regular field reports noting tree-related work performed.”
Ms. Blank says, “we recognize that BPCA is navigating an enormously complex project and is working hard to balance competing demands. As partners in that process, CB1 will continue to advocate for every tree that can reasonably be saved. The heat gain, loss of shade, and long-term impact on our streetscape are real costs that residents are already feeling, and we expect that each tree removal reflects a genuine necessity, not just the path of least resistance.”
For detailed maps of the entire North/West Resiliency project showing pre-construction tree conditions, removals associated with construction, and post-construction plantings, click here. General project construction updates may be found here.
Matthew Fenton
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