NYC Waterfall Installations Might be Killing Trees
August 9, 2008 · Print This Article
So, those NYC waterfall installations might not be so great after all. Four waterfall installations located around the NYC metropolitan area were installed in June and lauded for their efforts to green it up by reusing the materials in construction projects after the installations come down. They also took pains to avoid harming aquatic life. Too bad they didn’t think about how all that salt water would affect trees downwind of one of the waterfalls.
Gothamist has it:
Artist Olafur Eliasson may soon have tree blood on his hands – the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall installation is kicking up such a salty spray that downwind trees are turning brown and “looking as if it’s November,” the Post reports. The saltwater is interfering with their photosynthesis, and the owner of the River Café, which has gardens just south of the bridge, is worried that the trees he planted over three decades ago are suffering too much for public art. The Parks Department agrees they’re “showing signs of stress,” and the Public Art Fund, which is producing the NYC Waterfalls, has hired a tree service to try and save them.
Oops. Hopefully they’ll be able to save the trees. That would certainly be a waste. Waterfalls are cool and all, but they’re just for human enjoyment and it would be a shame if they messed up the local ecosystem.
Link [Gothamist]
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Hmmn.
I remember when these first went up wondering what was the energy source used to elevate large volumes of water artificially up to drop down.
I asked a similar question of an ‘eco-wareness’ installation in some Nordic capital that involved lighting all the buildings up in colours to reflect ‘moods’ as I recall.
Apparently, as it was night, demand was low. So that’s OK then.
Went running this morning on the promenade - from Remsen to Montague all the trees are leafless and the entire garden is dying. Why have the waterfalls not been turned off? Wouldn’t there be the chance that if stopped sooner than later the casualty will simply be this season’s leaves. If this continues longer these historic trees won’t make it. Loved the waterfalls, but this is not right.
On Governors Island, you can see that the trees are dying on the National Park. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO IMPAIR THE NATURAL RESOURCE IN A NATIONAL PARK.
Your readers have it right: why are the waterfalls not being turned off?? Who is applying the pressure? This is a federal felony violation.
The National Park Service is not allowed BY LAW to permit the impairment, so WHO in the National Park Service made the decision to permit the City to continue killing trees on the national park on Governors Island? Unless they can prove there will be no permanent damage, the Park Service needs to either stop the falls, or cite the Public Art Fund for violating federal law.