Read on Twitter
a thread about the various New York City sidewalk tree guards/grates/fences I come across while wandering around.
for reference: here is a NYC sidewalk tree without any guard/grate.
for reference: here is a NYC sidewalk tree without any guard/grate.
I call this smart little barrier the "windsor". you're finding them more and more.
the "parisien". these tree grates really do the job.
the pavement stone approach is classic. they always seem to be missing at least one stone.
the "tidy garden" shows that someone on the block cares.
the "untidy garden" shows that someone on the block who used to care is now dead.
the "metal worker". some dude spent hours on these in his garage.
the "bunker". whoever made this was sick of your shit.
metal hoops are a big thing. here's one with a tidy brick edge and some ivy.
here's one with metal hoops, pavers, and chicken wire.
you can always add more chicken wire.
the "deserted concentration camp".
"failed art project". sometimes your clever idea can not withstand the realities of living in New York.
I call this one the "trump". whatever tree used to be there is long gone, but someone has "upgraded" by adding worn out artificial grass.
“no trespassing”. this high gate seems intended to keep children away from your tree.
“gone but not forgotten”.
middle-class punk. (sometimes the tightest constraints produce the biggest rebels)
the “craft shoppe”. the artisanal diy approach to tree guards occasionally succeeds.
the “us cavalry fort”.
"protected nature reserve"
"ashtray grate"
"Asgardian helm"
the "creeping horror" (note the rat hole that someone has tried to cover with chicken wire)
the "loom" (I really love the dedication)
the "bollywood" (East 4th street near B : there are two of them and they are color coordinated with the building!)
the “brutalist”
the “minimalist”
the “barricade”
the “gibbet cage”
“mise en abyme”
“East Village Gaudí”
“the gates of wrath”. there is something both tragically forlorn (in a 1930s dust bowl kinda way) and completely half-assed about this attempt.
life is hard
tree prison.
egg basket.
picket fence
the Tuileries
the Spider-Man. (Hoyt street, Brooklyn)
the “we ran out of money a quarter way into this project and that was five years ago”
this mix of not entirely successful DIY artsiness and threats is the epitome of the East Village
“lost box”
wooden planter boxes rot away in NYC leaving exposed mounds of tangled roots. (note : you can still see parts of a plastic pot the tree was apparently planted in).
wooden planter boxes rot away in NYC leaving exposed mounds of tangled roots. (note : you can still see parts of a plastic pot the tree was apparently planted in).
east 6th street has a group of planters draped in drooping swaths of chicken wire with signs that implore in English and Spanish “no trash, no tires, no butts, please curb your dog”. the whole effect is very Harmony Korine.
I have some sad news...
the “Gramercy”. prim, but total exclusion.
some alligator whimsy
gentrification enclave
Berlin Wall style “death strip”
cat’s cradle. another variation of the loom technique, this time with rope
the breakwater.
the patio deck
the hitching post. (this design does absolutely nothing to protect the tree from the usual problems).
it’s been a hard winter for the local city trees.
rustic. someone on 12th street has been busy making branch fences.
private front yard, featuring fake grass and a “patrons only” bench.
grease-gate
friendly seat
old cemetery
chicken wire beach.
you’ve made it to the sorting hat
deck cemetery
standing bar/café table tree.
the trees rise up.
I can’t believe I’ve posted 62 tweets in this NYC tree grate/tree guard thread. If I had know at the start, I would have numbered them.
