Tree Throes in Brooklyn
By Anna Limontas-Salisbury | March 19th, 2009 | | 
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- Published in: Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Anna Limontas-Salisbury
LEAF US ALONE: Blanche Louise Peltonbusch, 72, (sitting) opposes plans to plant trees in her neighborhood. She's pictured with her friend,
Yolanda Matthews, 54.
Brooklyn -
The city wants to plant a million trees — but some residents of Brownsville aren’t exactly tree-huggers.
There are a couple of big misunderstandings expressed in the article that deserve comment and it’s a shame on both the part of the parks commission — if they weren’t corrected at that time — and the author of this article to not correct them for the reader.
First of all, individual Ginko trees are either male or female (not true of most trees) and the overwhelming majority of the Ginkos planted in NYC are male and do not produce the smelly fruit.
Secondly, street trees can be chosen for lower allergenicity. Birch (never chosen for city streets) and Oak trees are much more allergenic than all of the other choices. Elms, Plane trees, Gallery Pears, Maples and Ginko are good choices for allergy sufferers.
Finally, what about the numerous benefits of city trees such as their positive impacts on air quality, cooling during the summer and controlling stormwater run off?
Wayne Shreffler, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatric Allergy/ Immunology
(and a tree lover)