Turns Out, Parks Dept. Is Responsible for Disappearing Trees in Chelsea/Village

New York City can never have too many trees, so it’s unsurprising that some locals living in along the West 14th Street divide between Chelsea and Greenwich Village were worried when some young baby trees suddenly vanished.

Specifically, three young trees that had been placed on or in the vicinity of West 14th Street this month went “poof,” leading residents and workers to worry that a tree thief might be on the loose. However, Straus News can now confirm that the fresh trees are merely being replaced with larger ones by the Parks Department, leaving a few mounds of conspicuous dirt clearly visible to pedestrians.

Yet before any of this could be confirmed, the Greenwich Village resident Joseph Moskal put out a clarion call on the app NextDoor, warning that a tree-theft mafia (or lone wolf dendrophile) might be at large: “There were several sidewalk trees recently planted in the past week or so on the south side of 14th St. between 8th and 9th, and another on 8th Ave between 13th and 14th in front of the West Village Veterinary Hospital. I just noticed that they are gone. Were they stolen? Is that a thing now???”

He concluded the post with a frowning emoji.

At the suggestion of a West Village resident, Moskal added that he had reported the vanished trees to City Council Member Erik Bottcher’s office. He had also called 311 to report a possible “unauthorized tree removal.” Indeed, Council Member Bottcher has made the planting of trees a priority for his district office; he notably celebrated the 500th tree planted in the neighborhood last July.

Other residents on the app believed that they had reason to fear the worst. “People have been stealing flower boxes and other plantings for decades,” Marjorie Reitman wrote. “They seem to get perverse pleasure from destroying something positive, or stealing them for their own use.”

Jo Higgins, meanwhile, was just as blunt about the possibility of a tree thief (or thieves): “I live on 14th Street between 5th and 6th avenues. This is truly pathetic!”

As Moskal had promised, three trees were indeed missing from where he said they were supposed to be as of Thursday, May 22. Parks Department records indicated that they were supposed to be there too, as evidenced by their online “Street Tree Planting Location” map.

One, near 340 W. 14th St., had been planted on May 13. Another, near 330 W. 14th St., had been planted the same day. The tree that was supposed to be in front of the veterinary hospital, at 75 Eighth Ave., had been planted that day as well. Instead, there were underutilized mounds of dirt marking their absence, as a visit to the area by this reporter can confirm.

Marisa, who works at the veterinary hospital, confirmed that rumors of tree theft had migrated offline into reality. She told Straus News that she had recently spoken with a “gentleman” who thought that “people might be stealing the trees and reselling them.” Such a possibility came as a shock to her, she said.

The ominous scuttlebutt was finally laid to rest when a spokesperson for Council Member Bottcher’s office told Straus News, “I understand they were removed by [the Parks Department] to put in a different kind of tree.” He confirmed that they had just heard of the circulating allegations, as well.

Finally, the Parks Department explained what was really going on. “The trees originally planted under a Parks contract are being relocated to other suitable planting locations, as our partners at the Meatpacking District Management Association have a permit to plant new, larger-caliper trees that will quickly bring more shade to the neighborhood,” a spokesperson for the agency said. We’ll keep you posted on when the new trees will arrive.