The 16 palm trees in the Winter Garden Atrium at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City made it all the way to Florida, but have settled in well in their new home.
16 new Washingtonia Robusta palm trees were planted to replace the older ones, which were usually replaced after 10 years.
Since the 1990s, Brookfield Properties has partnered with Bronx-born, Rockland County-based Mark Mini of John Mini Distinctive Landscapes to manage its trees.
“It’s an iconic image. It’s an iconic part of New York City and we’re just really happy to continue to take on that responsibility,” said Laura Montross, vice president of Brookfield Properties.
“The actual installation will take place over 12 nights of work, with eight nights spent removing the old palm trees, setting up the planting beds and preparing them for the new ones, and four nights installing the new ones,” Mini added.
Mini said the project actually begins three years before installation as his team searches for the right palm trees for the conservatory in Florida.
The 16 winners are approximately 33 feet tall and were selected from 2,000 palm trees that were very methodically analyzed, measured and evaluated. The trees are shipped from Florida to Lower Manhattan in groups of four.
“A truck with four palm trees leaves Florida. It arrives in New York about two days later,” Mini said. “That night we have to plant those four, the next day another truck leaves. It arrives two days later, those four arrive, we plant those four, and then we plant them again until we plant all 16 in four nights,” Mini said.
The trees can grow 30 to 60 cm each year in the atrium, reaching a height of about 16 m before they need to be removed. The palms remain a unique addition to an interior space and also serve as inspiration for other rooms.
“When these palm trees were first installed in 1988, it set a new standard for what a public indoor space in New York City could look like. At that time, it was not common to have such exotic vegetation, especially not on the scale that you see behind me in downtown New York City,” Montross said.
The old palm trees are felled piece by piece and used as mulch.
Mini said 16 native New York trees will be planted in their honor this fall, using mulch from the old trees.
