Protesting ‘aborcide’ in Union Square

Chelsea Now photos by Jefferson Siegel

Greenwich Village resident Rebecca Major stands in Union Square on Arbor Day, celebrated on the last Friday of each April.

By Jefferson Siegel

Coinciding with what they perceive as an ongoing assault on trees in local parks, advocates celebrated Arbor Day in Union Square last Friday by protesting the loss of city trees amid the administration’s pledge to plant a million more in the coming years.

“Arbor Day seemed like the perfect time to expose what’s going on with the destruction of our trees by Mayor Bloomberg’s Parks Department,” said Cathryn Swan, who writes a blog on the ongoing redesign of Washington Sq. Park, where 11 mature trees have already been felled.

Last week the reconstruction of Union Square Park’s northern plaza began, stopping almost immediately after the group NYC Parks Advocates sued to stop work.

“We also wanted to expose the issue of the privatization of the park space,” Swan added. One of the contentious issues in the Union Square redesign is the siting of a new restaurant in the pavilion, despite the presence of dozens of other restaurants in and around the area.

Advocates placed signs on several trees that read, “Property of...” with the name of a corporation and the words, “To be cut down, and its plot privatized.” Swan’s blog said 14 trees in Union Sq. Park are currently slated to be cut down.

Swan also decried tree cutting in other sections of the city, despite Bloomberg’s “Million Trees NYC” initiative. She criticized the cutting of 400 trees by Yankee Stadium and 105 trees in East River Park.