Council Member Erik Bottcher (left) with Eric Marcus, of the 300 West 20th Street Block Association, Pamela Wolff, of the Chelsea West 200 Block Association and NYC Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner Anthony Perez (right). Photo courtesy of Erik Bottcher’s office
From left to right: Cat Lafferty, of the West 47th & 48th Street Block Association; Bottcher; NYC Parks Assistant Commissioner of Forestry and Horticulture Ben Osborne; Perez; and Wolff. Photo courtesy of Erik Bottcher’s office
On Wednesday, December 14, Council Member Erik Bottcher and the New York City Parks Department announced that 1,000 new street trees would be planted in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. Speakers at the event on West 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues included Bottcher; NYC Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner Anthony Perez; Nick Guntli, Senior Director of Horticulture at the Horticultural Society of New York; and Pamela Wolff, of the Chelsea West 200 Block Association.
Bottcher had promised to plant at least 1,000 street trees in his time in office, and 216 trees were planted this year. He allocated $600,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 discretionary capital funding to the NYC Parks Department for street tree plantings, and $100,000 in FY 2023 discretionary capital funding to the Horticultural Society of New York to install tree guards around tree pits and raised planter beds on unviable tree pits where trees can no longer be planted.