BY SCOTT STIFFLER | With its stretches of subway grating flanked by a windowless Con Edison substation and a busy bike lane, Seventh Avenue between West 18th and 19th Streets has long been in need of beautification. While the restaurants and residential buildings of surrounding blocks beckon, this barren, concrete anomaly can’t claim so much as a single shrub, plant, or bush with which to entice. (The nutrient-rich soil necessary for such things has long been supplanted by the 1 Train, running directly below.)

All that changed last week, with the arrival of five potted trees placed close to the bike lane and spaced evenly from one end of the block to the next. Installeld by The Horticultural Society of New York (The Hort), the 60″x42″ planters are filled with “a mix of potting soil and compost. We also use small stones at the base of the planter to ensure proper drainage,” explained Lauren Sadowsky, Business Development Manager, The Hort. Two species–Serviceberry and Redbud–were planted, “both of which,” noted Sadowsky, “are flowering trees.”

The trees didn’t exactly sprout up overnight. “It all started with Paul Groncki of the 100 West 16th Street Block Association writing years ago to City Council Member Erik Bottcher and asking, ‘What can we do to make this block look better?,’ ” recalled 100 West 19th/20th Street Block Association Chair Sally Greenspan, noting Groncki “then reached out to CCBA [the Council of Chelsea Block Associations] with the same question.”

Two years later–with Greenspan’s block association having worked alongside ConEd, The Hort, and Council Member Bottcher’s office, their combined efforts were celebrated at a hot, sunny, hard-won July 8 ribbon cutting ceremony.

With oversized scissors in hand and poised to cut the ribbon to, well, ribbons, Council Member Bottcher drew from remarks made at similar events that have seen 500 trees placed throughout District 3 (with an equal number to follow). 

“Street trees aren’t just beautiful — they cool our streets during heat waves, absorb stormwater, clean our air, and make our neighborhoods more livable,” he noted, of the newly arrived multitaskers. 

Also speaking at the ceremony was Kimberly Williams, Director of Con Edison’s Manhattan Regional and Community Affairs team. “We greatly appreciate everyone coming together to collaborate on the planters,” said Williams, noting that Con Edison “is governed by many regulations, so we often have to say several ‘nos’ to  suggestions–but our goal is to create something that works for all parties and to get to ‘yes.’ ”

Circling back to Chelsea Community News several hours after the event, an email from the 100 West 19th/20th Street Block Association looked back on the “almost two years” of communication and cooperation required “to beautify the appearance of this block. So a very special thank you to Erik Bottcher’s whole team,” wrote Greenspan, “who dedicated their time and effort and worked with our Block Association and all the parties involved to make this happen.”

Con Ed’s Kimberly Williams was also singled out as a good neighbor who “worked diligently to secure the funding. The Hort team spent an endless amount of time designing and redesigning different plans to get the job done within the confines of the budget. In the end, generous neighbors also jumped in to help secure the project, a genuine ‘it takes a village’ moment. Yippee!” 

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Want to learn more about Council District 3’s Green the In-Between efforts? Reach out to Council Member Bottcher’s office at district3@council.nyc.gov.

For more Chelsea Community information, visit ccbanyc.com.

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