Why Tompkins Square Park's October Is All About Trees

"They're both now resting against the building behind me, and in a very precarious position that seems like they could fall," Jeff Bell said in an Instagram post. Bell is an owner of PDT and Crif Dogs on St. Mark's Place, and both businesses closed after the September 26–27 nor'easter. One neighbor's tree fell into another neighbor's tree, and both ended up leaning against the building behind the two bars' shared backyard, on the block between Avenue A and First Avenue.

A block and a half away, Parks crews spent the same week planting. On Wednesday, September 30, they put 10 new trees in the ground around Tompkins Square Park, according to Parks employees quoted by EV Grieve. More plantings are expected before the work wraps up later this month. By Saturday, October 3, the park had a mini-forest along its Seventh Street edge.

Those two stories show where the East Village's trees stand this fall. A tree in a private backyard comes down, and removing it depends on a crane and the owners of the property it grew on. In the public park, the canopy is being added on purpose, in stages, on a published schedule. Most of that schedule is volunteer days. Through October, the park's calendar is set up so that people who walk past Tompkins every day can help finish what was just planted.

What went into the ground on Seventh Street

The mini-forest sits on the Seventh Street side of the park between Avenue A and Avenue B. Friends of Tompkins Square Park lists New York Tree Time as the planting lead. The Lower East Side Ecology Center and Friends of Tompkins Square Park collaborated, and the Arbor Day Foundation provided support. Their notice describes a newly installed birch grove and volunteers planting small trees.

The grove isn't the only new planting. Crews and volunteers also put in a rain garden near the dog run and filled it with native plants. The work extends to the edges of the park, too. Old stones are coming out of the sidewalk tree pits and planting beds, the beds are being refilled, new stones are going in, and existing trees are getting maintenance. More trees are expected along Avenue B between Seventh and Eighth streets.

The planting was finished in time for the fifth annual City of Forest Day on October 3. The citywide event is organized by Forest for All NYC with Parks and Open Space Partners NYC and the city's Parks Department. Nearly 150 events took place across the five boroughs that day. Earlier this year, the city released its first Urban Forest Plan, a long-term roadmap for a network of more than 7 million trees. The plan sets a goal of 30 percent tree canopy cover by 2040. The Tompkins project shares that goal and was timed to the celebration. None of the published material calls the Tompkins grove a formal pilot of the plan.

The October calendar, in one place

The new planting changes how the rest of the month reads. Several events on the park's October calendar are scheduled to add to the grove, plant around it, or explain it.

October 17 has two events at once

The parade is the date most of the neighborhood already has marked. The 36th Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade returns to the park between Avenue A and Avenue B on Saturday, October 17, continuing a tradition that dates to 1990, according to Forbes. Forbes reports that the parade is free to attend and to march in. New York Dog Parade, a nonprofit, runs it, and Kismet is this year's sponsor. October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, so the organizers are partnering with the ASPCA and Animal Care Centers of NYC to feature adoptable dogs all month and to celebrate rescue dogs marching in the parade.

Founder Fern Watt has already set the tone. "Yesterday, someone emailed us to say they were dressing their dog as frozen yogurt," she told Forbes. "So clearly, the competition this year is going to be stiff." Space inside the park is limited, so only selected registered participants can enter the Costume Competition. For the first time, it will be broadcast live for people who can't get close.

Marchers have to register in advance, and spots go first-come, first-served. The organizer's registration page says registration is free, but its ticket widget displays $36, so check that page before you sign up. As of the latest posting, the route, spectator viewing points and exact arrival instructions had not been announced.

The same morning, from 10 a.m. to noon, Friends of Tompkins Square Park is hosting a spring bulb planting with daffodils donated by New Yorkers for Parks. Volunteers meet at the Field House between Avenue A and Avenue B. This year is the 25th anniversary of the Daffodil Project, which began in 2002 as a living memorial to the victims of September 11. Since then, more than nine million bulbs have been given away free, planted in the fall, and bloomed among the first flowers of spring.

So the park will hold the parade crowd and a planting crew in overlapping hours. Bulb planters bring sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirty. The Friends supply gloves and tools, and public restrooms are open in the Field House. Registration for the bulb planting runs through Eventbrite. If you want to see the costumes and plant, the bulb planting ends at noon, which leaves time to catch the parade.

The mini-forest gets its understory on October 24

The trees and birches are only the first layer. On Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friends of Tompkins Square Park will plant hundreds of wildflowers, ferns and grasses in the mini-forest, again meeting at the Field House. The organizers flag the 1 p.m. end time in bold on their listing.

That session fills in the ground layer between the trees planted in early October. Anyone who helps on the 24th can come back the next afternoon for the free Urban Park Rangers program, "Great Trees of Tompkins Square Park," on Sunday, October 25, from 1 to 2 p.m. That gives you a planting day and a guided walk among the park's established trees on back-to-back days.

The month ends with Kids in Motion, a free all-day NYC Parks program at Avenue A and St. Marks Place on Halloween, Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The dog run is next

The rain garden by the dog run is new, and the dog run itself has a project underway. NYC Parks lists the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run Synthetic Turf Installation, at Avenue B and East 9th Street, as an active capital project in its design phase. No construction date is posted. People who use the run every day can follow the project's progress on the Parks project page.

Back on St. Mark's Place

The planting in the park doesn't help the bars on the next block. As of EV Grieve's October 3 report, PDT and Crif Dogs had been closed since Sunday, September 27. Bell said removing the trees requires a crane, and the businesses are waiting for the neighboring landlords responsible for the trees to get the work done. "I don't feel that it's safe for our team to be working in these conditions," he said.

Bell has started a GoFundMe for staff wages lost during the closure and says 100 percent of the money goes to the team. He told followers he spent 15 to 20 years as a tipped employee himself. "I don't like to go hat in hand, but I will go hat in hand for the team," he said. No reopening date had been announced as of October 3. Check their channels before you walk over for a hot dog.

At The Diamonde Team, we pay close attention to the blocks around the parks our clients walk every day, from new trees on Avenue B to new turf for the dog run. If you live near Tompkins Square and want to talk about your building, your block or a home in the East Village, schedule a private consultation with us.