The Cranbrook Guardian: Happy Earth Day from New York

The Story of a Tree in New York

Happy Earth Day.

There are 600,000 trees growing along the streets of this city.

This is the story of one that died and was born again.

It was a gigantic red oak in Queens — 5 feet across, 8 stories high and approaching 300 years old.

The tree had presided over 84th Avenue in Richmond Hill since before there was an 84th Avenue. Since before there was a Richmond Hill.

It was on the New York Tree Trust’s list of about 100 Great Trees. People called it the Robin Hood tree.

In 2010, it was toppled by a tornado.

The mighty oak was chopped, chipped and hauled away.

That would have been the end.

But a man on the block showed the city a red oak sapling in his yard.

The city determined it must have hatched from an acorn of the Robin Hood tree.

It was the only other red oak in the vicinity. And you know what they say about the acorn not falling far.

The owner, Clark Whitsett, offered the city his Robin Hood sapling.

“If I leave it on my property, someone who buys my house can just cut it down,” Mr. Whitsett said.

“If it’s planted on the street, no one can: It was a way of protecting the tree.”

The parks department tended Mr. Whitsett’s sapling for three years until it was ready.

And on April 9, workers dug it up and planted it in the very spot where the Robin Hood tree had stood.

The Cranbrook Guardian