This editorial is about one of those chronic neighborhood injustices that drives us nuts. We’ve  written about it before and we’ll write about it again. In doing so, maybe we can collectively figure out how to address it.

As many of our readers know, we (Mosholu Presevation Corporation, the nonprofit that publishes this paper) have been working on beautification efforts for a long time. So have lots of other people. The Jerome-Gun Hill BID, the new Fordham BID, Montefiore, local elected officials, businesses and citizens spend lots of time cleaning up litter and graffiti and trying to make this area nicer and more attractive.

It’s hard, under-appreciated and never-ending work, but we all do it because we like things to be nicer. That’s why we are always saddened by the nagging problems that are harder than most to resolve.

And one of the most upsetting, frustrating, depressing problems is the killing of trees.

Groups like the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center and Montefiore’s School Health Program have all worked mightily to plant trees and care for them.

But, for some reason we will never really fathom, there are neighbors in our midst who seem offended by the growth of trees. Some people see them as the proper place for dog waste. Others just like to break things and snap the small trees in half. Some people seem to think that a tree pit and the guards placed around them are the perfect place for garbage as if the trees provide mini landfills for their convenience. And some people just tear the bark off them, which will surely kill them.

Seeing this state of affairs, one of our correspondents wrote in to say that our tax dollars are wasted on trees that will mostly get killed or just die, as many do in our hot and polluted city.

We have a different view. We are determined to help more living things survive in our overwhelmingly built environment. Trees cool our sidewalks, provide oxygen and beautify our world.

More and more, trees are being planted on our streets and in our parks. We need to help protect them and request more. Between the tree massacre on Mosholu Parkway 18 years ago and the loss of trees due to the filtration plant construction, we are barely keeping up.

So, when spring rolls around again, throw some  water on the trees when they’re dry, help keep the tree pits clean, and teach children to love and care for them. Without the green of the earth, we wouldn’t be able to breathe.

A Welcome Collaboration

We attended one of the Chihuly Nights at the New York Botanical Garden last week. Featured, in addition to the splendid sculpture you’ve seen pictured in these pages over the last few issues, was a wonderful concert by the folk musician Erin McKeown. Emceeing the event was WFUV’s Rita Houston.

Yes, we just mentioned WFUV and the NYBG in the same paragraph, and it has nothing to do with the dreadful radio tower dispute.

When the tower came down last spring, the opportunities for collaboration between the two venerable Bronx institutions arose. We hope there will be many more like this one.