COMMUNITY SPIRIT SAVED THE TREES 



BY GAYNE T. K. NORTON 



AT first glance an intimate connection between trees, 

 subway construction, community spirit and the 

 bettering of unpleasant conditions in everyday life 

 does not appear; yet, because of a few elms and a bit of 

 subway construction, the people of Brooklyn did them- 

 selves a tremendous favor. They proved the existence of 

 community spirit in the borough absolutely the one 

 thing New York needs most. 



They demanded a change in subway construction to 

 save the trees and expected to pay some $500,000 for it. 

 After legal battles and the loss of a few trees their demands 

 were granted, and, instead of adding a half million dollars 

 to the construction costs, that amount was saved as a 

 result. The economic importance of trees has long been 



recognized, but in this instance every one of the elms 

 saved is worth more than its weight in gold, for they have 

 become living monuments, testifying to the power of 

 community spirit. The very fact that they remain stand- 

 ing should furnish incentive to Brooklynites, and others, 

 to attack and rid the community of many social problems. 

 Here is the story of the elms and the all-important lesson 

 they are preaching : 



The present subway system is to be continued along 

 Eastern Parkway under ground to finally become an ele- 

 vated line in the neighborhood of Buffalo avenue. The 

 original plans called for a 4-track system. Brooklyn 

 wanted the subway badly, but when the people learned 

 its building was to cost more than a thousand veteran 



Official Public Service Commission Photograph. 



HOW BROOKLYN SAVED ITS NOBLE ELMS 

 Community .pint in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York City, saved these elms, some eight hundred in all, from destruction by subway contractors. 

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