May 17 Forest Hills Tree Giveaway To Donate 1,250th Tree To The Public

For Immediate Release

Contact: Michael Perlman

Forest Hills Tree Giveaway, Coordinator
Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance

Rego-Forest Preservation Council, Chair

Reserve a tree in advance at www.treegiveaways.com/4bnpa

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ForestHillsTreeGiveaways

unlockthevault@hotmail.com   

May 17th Forest Hills Tree Giveaway To Donate 1,250^th Tree

QUEENS, NY (May 2015) - As spring is in full swing, the Forest Hills Tree Giveaway has become a community tradition in MacDonald Park on Queens Boulevard and 70^th Avenue.  Locals among citywide residents will line up in the park on Sunday, May 17 between 1 PM and 3 PM, and take home a small tree or perhaps a few among 200 free trees. Adopters will then plant their tree(s) in their residential front yard or backyard, at an apartment building with permission, in a schoolyard, or at their commercial property. 

The Forest Hills Tree Giveaway, which is held annually in May and periodically in October, will be the seventh event since 2011, bringing the total of adopted trees to an approximate 1,250. Adopters can select from 5 tree species, which consist of American Elm, Yellowwood, Fringe Tree, Red Buckeye, and Dawn Redwood. This will add to the diversity of trees donated at earlier events, where names included Black Gum, Magnolia, and Tulip.

Flashback: Capturing the essence of the May 2014 Forest Hills Tree Giveaway 

“These are great native trees that provide shade, food and shelter to animals, or tend to offer classic shapes such as the ‘V’ of the American Elm,” said Mike Mitchell, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Director of Giveaways. He continued, “A stately excurrent growth pattern can be found in the Dawn Redwood with its red, peeling bark, and stunning flowers can be observed on the Fringe Tree, Yellowwood, and Red Buckeye.” 

This event is made possible through Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance (4BNPA) in partnership with NYRP and MillionTreesNYC. Lead sponsors are Toyota and TD Bank, and lead partners are plaNYC, NYC Parks, and NYRP. A supporting sponsor is jetBlue. Volunteers are derived from the 4BNPA, Rego-Forest Preservation Council, and Trylon Vet Care.

NYRP began coordinating tree giveaways in 2008. As of 2011, 4BNPA had the mission of advocating for landmarks and curbing overdevelopment, but then realized how environmental preservation is a significant complement to the city’s architectural achievements, which led to their partnership. Preservationist Michael Perlman became the Forest Hills Tree Giveaway coordinator. Perlman stated, “After the spring 2015 tree giveaway season ends, the quantity of citywide donated trees since the founding of the giveaway program will be somewhat greater than 50,000, which is a miracle within itself.” 

Perlman explained, “As extreme weather patterns intensified in recent years with a macroburst and two hurricanes, numerous trees succumbed within seconds. Despite loss, it helped influence communities to preserve mature trees and plant new ones.” The extensive range of benefits associated with trees include enhancing property values, marking a community’s history, offering a serene and colorful setting, capturing stormwater, reducing runoff, filtering and cooling the air, and conserving energy.  

NYRP remains committed toward adding new tree species to the varied tree canopy of the 5 boroughs. Mitchell said, “Diversity in NYC is very important because of the risk of disease and pests. Having a lower percentage of all tree species in our city means we can avoid a single issue creating the terrible side effects of losing tree canopy, like an increase in summertime temperatures or stormwater runoff events.”  

Inspirational stories are often linked to tree giveaway events. Mitchell explained, “My daughter Wren Mitchell was born in April 2014, and this year we finally moved to an apartment with a backyard that our landlord allowed us to landscape. In honor of her birthday, we planted four trees, and each was planted with the help of my parents, my wife, and her parents.” He continued, “What a great way to gather and celebrate our daughter by planting trees that will grow throughout her lifetime.”

At the tree giveaway, adopters are routinely photographed with their trees. Additionally, tree adoption certificates name trees after local landmarks, historic streets, and notables, which helps foster a relationship among adopters and their trees.

“We expect that within thirty years, after most of the trees have grown to maturity, there could be more than 10 acres of tree canopy established in Forest Hills and Rego Park alone from 4BNPA’s efforts,” said Mitchell.

On May 17, 2015, those who wish to adopt a potted tree should line up earlier than 1 PM in MacDonald Park.

The public can reserve a tree by visiting www.treegiveaways.com/4bnpa or by registering for a tree at the event on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Like” Forest Hills Tree Giveaways on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/ForestHillsTreeGiveaways

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Richard Haas’ Mosaic Masterpiece on Queens Boulevard Turns 25

Richard Haas' mosaic mural, Photo by Michael Perlman, Rego-Forest Preservation Council

Queens Boulevard has shops, buildings, roadways, and a few public works of art… if you look carefully enough. This year marks the 25^th anniversary of a mosaic mural designed by the famed architectural muralist, Richard Haas.  

The mural adorns the curved façade of TD Bank at 108-36 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills. It showcases America’s earliest planned garden community, the Forest Hills Gardens, which originated in 1909. At the foot of Station Square sits the Long Island Railroad Station, which extends across its width. Bearing prominence in the mural is the Forest Hills Inn, which opened in 1912 and towers over Station Square. The scene commemorates the Gardens’ Tudor and Arts and Crafts styles, as well as monumental trees, which resulted from the partnership of principal architect Grosvenor Atterbury and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. 

The charm is further captured through a birdseye view of homes beyond the Inn, as well as specific examples of cottages in individualized windows along its perimeters. Also depicted is a cornerstone of tennis and music history, the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, which opened in 1923, and a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline featuring the Twin Towers. 

“I have always said this was one of my secret favorites,” said Richard Haas. “I was taken by the history of Forest Hills as a planned community based more on English and other European precedents.” He designed the mural as the first of an extensive series for the Home Savings Bank of America in 1989. It was executed in Spilimbergo, Italy by professional craftsmen under Mr. Trasavenuto’s leadership, and installed by Mr. Cravato in Forest Hills.      

 

Haas’ contemporary creations often become relics. “It's so classic-looking, that I had no idea it was such a recent creation,” said Kew Gardens resident Liz Manning Jarmel.

 

Actor Emil Beheshti, a former Forest Hills resident said, “I am proud to see Richard Haas’ beautiful mosaic, as it reflects my childhood and the care given by residents. It reminds us of the rich history of Forest Hills and its gorgeous architecture.”

The mural was on the brink of demolition when Commerce Bank became the tenant in the mid-2000s, and referenced their storefront design standards. That was when landlord Cord Meyer Development Company had requirements of their own. “It would have been almost sacrilegious to alter or remove the mural. We appreciated the mural’s beauty and significance, as well as the survival of the World Trade Center picture,” said Anthony Colletti, Chief Operating Officer of Cord Meyer. “We made keeping the mural a deal breaker. Soon after, everyone was a winner; Cord Meyer, Commerce Bank, and most importantly, the community.”

Queens residents expressed their pride. Kevin Walsh, Founder of Forgotten New York hopes the mural will not be forgotten. “Now we can be thankful that Richard Haas' fanciful depiction of Station Square and the Gardens beyond will remain, to inspire generations to come.” 

“I pass this several times a week, and on sunny days, the gold mosaics absolutely gleam,” said Regina Judith Faighes. “It is an aesthetically beautiful monument to our beloved Forest Hills, and I feel there should be a ceremony honoring the very talented Richard Haas and his gift to our community.”

One of Haas’ major tools is his paintbrush, which he applies to a façade and redefines a technique known as “trompe l’oeil.” He creates an optical illusion by adding architectural detail and dimension to an otherwise blank canvas. Last year, he told CBS Sunday Morning, “A mural contains a neighborhood in many ways. It begins to make people aware of what the beauty is that’s around them.”

Richard Haas, Courtesy of the artist

In 1978, Paul Goldberger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic and educator wrote, “The art of Richard Haas is at once entirely realistic and quite fantastic.” He then went on to say, “From a period when Haas began to make small dioramic boxes of artist’s interiors in the mid-Sixties and later New York street views, to the time when he was involved in full scale reshaping of urban exterior and interior environments, Richard Haas has been an ‘urban artist’ without peer.”

Richard Haas was born in 1936 and raised in Milwaukee. In the mid-1950s, he worked as a stonemason assistant to his great uncle George Haas, who was the master stonemason at Taliesin, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright. As an assistant professor at Michigan State between 1964 and 1968, it afforded him the opportunity to meet notable artists and critics such as Barnet Newman, Clement Greenberg, and Jules Olitski. In 1968, he made New York his home, and in 1975, painted his first outdoor mural featuring a replica of a cast-iron façade at Prince Street and Greene Street. This led to various outdoor commissions across America, which continues to this very day.

A similar version of this story appears in Michael Perlman's Forest Hills Times column: http://www.foresthillstimes.com/view/full_story/24564285/article-Queens-Boulevard-mosaic-turns-25