Café’s Gardener Gave Warning
Before They Were Turned On
By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN – The Public Art Fund’s dramatic NYC Waterfalls, a big tourist draw throughout the summer, are scheduled to be turned off in October.
But that may be too late for many of the plants and trees both near the River Café and further down along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
Two of the four dramatic waterfalls, designed by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, are near the Brooklyn waterfront, one under the Brooklyn Bridge and the other between Piers 4 and 5. When they were turned on in June, there was nothing but praise for them.
‘An Environmental Assessment Study was done, and it was concluded that there would be no lasting impact from the project,” said Rochelle Steiner, director of the Public Art Fund.
However, starting about a month later, there were complaints that the partially salt river water that is being sprayed up through the waterfalls was causing many of the trees and plants in the River Café’s famed garden to become prematurely brown and yellow. Owner Michael “Buzzy” O’Keefe planted the trees 32 years ago when he opened the restaurant in the Fulton Ferry area.
Then, people started noticing damage along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to the south. Eagle photographer Don Evans recently took a photo that showed a row of honey locust trees, behind the waterfall on Montague Street, totally devoid of leaves. Damage has even been reported to the giant, unusual redwood tree in the garden at 2 Montague Terrace.
In addition, many people who have parked their cars near the waterfront, from the Fulton Ferry area as far south as Montague Street, have noticed salt crystals, or a “fine white mist,” forming on their cars parked nearby.
The Parks Department determined that the salt content in the water (which is a mixture of fresh and salt water) has caused the damage. To minimize the damage, the Parks Department recommended “flushing the roots, applying compost and watering the leaves in the morning to slow salt absorption.”
The city and the Public Art Fund said earlier this month that a tree service company, Dom’s Tree Service in Port Washington, has been hired to handle further maintenance of the damaged trees.
The River Café’s longtime gardener, Maureen Andraiese, said these issues came up even before the waterfalls were installed, and that she was given what she considers an unsatisfactory answer.
“As soon as I found that the waterfalls would be pulling up the salt water, I called and said, `This is not going to work,’” she said. “The woman on the other end said, “On, no, the winds are usually northerly, and if anything goes south, the waterfalls will be turned off.”
Indeed, Steiner said there is an anemometer (wind meter) at each site, which is programmed to shut each waterfall off with sustained winds. “All of the waterfalls have been shut off at times over the course of the project due to winds,” she said.
However, said Andraiese, “Last Thursday, when we had that bad storm, everything blew south as if there was a tidal wave. Buzzy lights up these trees (with lights held together by wires), the storm shorted out the transformers in the trees, and we had a blackout, with the transformers catching on fire.”
In addition, she said, “I park my car in front of the restaurant, and the car has a coating of hard salt on it every day.”
Another arborist, Christopher Roddick, who works for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, says salt “severely burns” the leaves of the plants. He added, interestingly, that the salt content of the water varies according to the tide.
Several weeks ago, he said, he suggested to O’Keeffe that the restaurateur spray his plants with fresh water daily to get the salt off of it. All in all, he said, the only sure way to minimize further damage is to “turn the waterfalls off.”
Steiner of the Public Art Project, said, “We are pleased that the Parks Department conveyed that while the salt water can cause leaves to discolor, with proper care there will not be any permanent adverse effects.”
“Their arborist,” replied Andraiese, referring to Dom’s Tree Service, “paints rosy pictures, saying the plants will recover. Some trees are more durable and can withstand this kind of barrage, but some plants are totally dead – there is no life for them.”
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© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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