GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY PRIORITIZES COMMUNITY SAFETY IN TREE MANAGEMENT

Green-Wood Cemetery is committed to community safety. Recently, the cemetery removed or pruned over eighty trees along its perimeter that were deemed a potential danger to pedestrians, cars, and cyclists. More details about this initiative can be found in the press release below.

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THE GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY

PRIORITIZES COMMUNITY SAFETY IN TREE MANAGEMENT

More than 80 trees along Green-Wood’s perimeter deemed

to be a potential danger to pedestrians, cars & cyclists

have been removed or pruned

 

(BROOKLYN NY)  In a massive three-month effort to protect the community from potential danger, a team of arborists from The Green-Wood Cemetery removed or pruned more than 80 trees from around its 4.5-mile perimeter that had been deemed hazardous to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

The trees, many of which were Norway maples – an invasive and particularly aggressive species – grew along Green-Wood’s fence line.

Joseph Charap, Director of Horticulture and Curator at Green-Wood, said, “Norway maples have very shallow roots, which outcompete other vegetation and damage pavement.  They also have a very tight root mass which weakens the tree as it ages. Doing preventive maintenance like this is not only good for the trees, it’s good for our neighbors.”

Plans are underway now to replace the removed Norway maples with native trees. The new trees will be planted at a greater distance from the fence. 

The grounds of The Green-Wood Cemetery include more than 7,000 individually inventoried shade and ornamental trees. They represent 400 species, cultivars, and hybrids, over 40 taxonomic families and more than 89 genera.

Green-Wood’s trees range from seedlings planted within the past few months to grand old specimens that have graced its landscape for well over 100 years. They represent some of the oldest and largest of their kind (including one national- and two state champions) in the New York City area.   

Richard J. Moylan, president of The Green-Wood Cemetery, added, “Visitors to Green-Wood have enjoyed our magnificent trees since 1838, and we are committed to carefully managing our tree collection so they can be enjoyed by many generations to come.”

Moylan also thanked the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Urban and Community Forestry Project for its endorsement and grant support of this perimeter tree management program. 

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About Green-Wood: Incorporated in 1838, The Green-Wood Cemetery stretches across 478 pastoral acres in Brooklyn and boasts extraordinary works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century sculpture, statuary and architecture.

Home to thousands of historic figures, The Green-Wood Cemetery offers tours of its grounds, concerts, book readings and other public events throughout the year.

Green-Wood has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior.

The Green-Wood Historic Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit membership organization created to maintain Green-Wood’s monuments and buildings of historical, cultural, and architectural significance; to advance public knowledge and appreciation; and to preserve the natural habitat of one of New York City’s first green spaces.

For more information, please visit www.green-wood.com.