Jersey City’s streets need Trees — to keep them clean, beautiful, and cool in the summer — especially given that the city’s tree canopy stands at an endangered 10.9% coverage level as opposed to the recommended 20-25% for urban areas.

After an almost $5M streetscape renovation, Jersey City’s Central Avenue saw pavement and light upgrades, but instead of lush, shady trees, we ended up with tiny, spindly, slow growing Ginkgo trees. With urban environments especially susceptible to extreme heat, we don’t have time to wait 20+ years for these trees to mature and provide ecological and aesthetic benefits for the residents of the Heights. The existing trees are also structurally deficient and provide barely any shade.

Our residents and businesses deserve better.

The Central Avenue Special Improvement District (CASID) promoted planting more Ginkgos because they're slow growing, they didn't block business signage, and didn't require maintenance. CASID also maintained that Ginkgos on Central Avenue were thriving, when in reality, many existing Ginkgos were in severe health decline and a handful were already dead.

The City of Jersey City ignored best practices recommendations by the Jersey City Shade Tree Committee, professional arborists, and even its own Forester to diversify Central Avenue with other Tree species and bring much needed shade, ecological benefits and a sense of renewal and beauty to Central Avenue.

I am urging you, and the City of Jersey City to prioritize the health and vibrancy of the Heights community and:

1. Replace all newly-planted, slow-growing, spindly Ginkgos with Podless Honey Locusts that grow faster and offer more shade to achieve a beautiful tree-lined boulevard, with more ecological benefits

2. Allocate more budget to continue the beautification of Central Avenue, including the addition of seasonal flowers along the sidewalks to beautify and attract more shoppers to local businesses

3. Moving forward, utilize the services of landscape design professionals in all Jersey City capital improvement / grant-funded streetscape projects

4. Implement an open and inclusive public outreach process throughout the design phase for all future capital improvement / grant funded projects

Based on this petition, the west side of Central Avenue would see lush Podless Honey Locust trees, recently planted Zelkovas on the east side, and seasonal flowers along sidewalks — now, wouldn’t you want to walk, and shop along a street like that?

As is the case for the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District (SID), all SIDs in Jersey City should benefit from best practices and a sufficient budget to achieve sustainability goals, and provide economic, and quality of life benefits for surrounding neighborhoods.

Thank you and I hope you'll take action on this very important matter in Jersey City's environmental, and community, and economic health.