East River Water Falls As Art

TREE-BACLE!

The head of the Brooklyn Heights Association wants the city to shut down a pair of arborcidal waterfalls by Labor Day " just as the Public Arts Fund began giving local trees baths to save them from the displays’ dangerous mist.

“Our feeling is if you’ve seen the damage that’s occurred, why don’t you turn off the falls?” asked Executive Director Judy Stanton.

Since the installation of artist Olafur Eliasson’s four massive East River sprinklers, residents on the Brooklyn side have complained that salt contained in the contraptions’ mist is destroying leaves of nearby trees, and possibly killing them.

“I think it’s enough,” Stanton said. “They’re damaging the local environment and I don’t think it’s worth it to have this question remain: Will the trees come back?”
Brooklyn Bridge Realty

The spray is also affecting cars " River Café customers and Heights residents along Montague Terrace and Columbia Heights are having trouble getting rid of the oil residue and salt on their vehicles, said Stanton and River Café manager Scott Stamford.

“When people come to a restaurant, they have expectations of what they expect a reputation of 30 years in business to be,” Stamford said. “When they come and see the dead trees, it just sends the wrong message.”

Project organizers said this week that they are trying to fix the problem. Every morning, arborists from the Parks Department now rinse the trees and leaves along the Promenade and in the River Café’s garden with fresh water and flush salt from the soil.