NY Times: Photos - trees spring up in a changing New York

[LiberalElite]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/nyregion/in-leafy-blitz-trees-spring-up-in-a-changing-new-york.html?_r=0#

[Warpy]

1. I understand the construction boom along the ultra pricey Central Park East

is now starting to shade Central Park to the extent that some of the vegetation isn't getting enough sunlight and will need to be replaced with shade tolerant plants.

This is clearly insane.

However, it's nice to see tree lined streets in Brooklyn and Queens, where the trees can be healthy.

I did notice in some of the early photographs that the larger trees were being planted as little saplings in the 60s-70s.

[LiberalElite]

2. Manhattan's become a playground for the rich

There were protests about the effect of those megatowers to no avail. Many of these rich #*)$**@) won't even be living in them most of the time. This is more of billionaire Bloomberg's legacy. Of course these luxury buildings near Central Park are in a neighborhood that's been solely for the rich for many years, but these buildings were approved under Bloomberg and he bears some responsibility.

On the other hand, One of the good things Bloomy did was the One Million Trees NYC project: http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/home/home.shtml
which started in 2007.

[Warpy]

3. Right, nobody can afford to live in Manhattan, even stock brokers

are living in the godawful dumps my hippie dippie friends used to occupy and the years have not improved them much, although bathtubs aren't in the living rooms any more. They were replaced by minimal showers in the postage stamp sized bathrooms, space borrowed from the already miniscule kitchens.

Central Park East has been built up for billionaire jet setters, overdone and overpriced pieds a terre for when they jet in for the opera or whatever. The whole area will be a moonscape of largely deserted buildings, not enough permanent residents to support even a Starbuck's.

I've always been glad I moved to Boston, instead. I never saw a bathtub in the living room, although I had to deal with fridges in them from time to time. I am glad I left when I did, gentrification resulting in huge rent increases every year as landlords eyed cosmetic conversions and easy money turning tenements into condos.

This system isn't going to last much longer. All the supports at the bottom have rotted out from overwork and depressed wages. Since economies all work from the bottom up, the whole thing is overdue for a collapse.

[LiberalElite]

4. What part do you mean

by Central Park East? Asking because there's a Central Park South and Central Park West. Also Central Park North which was more often just called 110th Street - but that part of town's getting invaded by the rich too.

[maribethcardinale]

5. Nice Photos

Nice Photographs. Even the photos shared by Long Island Pulse Magazine is amazing.