The Waterfalls have claimed another victim.
Trees, shrubs, and greenery along the fabled Brooklyn Heights Promenade are showing severe signs of stress, and in some cases, death — thanks to a constant battering of brackish East River water spewing from Olafur Eliasson’s “New York City Waterfalls” project.
The Promenade foliage is just the latest victim of Eliasson’s four-headed killing machine. As The Brooklyn Paper reported earlier this month, the waterfalls’ saline spray has severely damaged trees at the River Café in DUMBO, turning their greenery a decidely autumnal hue.
All around the Montague Street entrance of the 58-year-old Promenade, trees are ailing as leaves catch the constant spray.
“There’s nothing to block the wind up here,” said Irene Janner of the Brooklyn Heights Association, which will ask the mayor’s office to investigate if the situation does not improve.
As with the trees near the DUMBO eatery, the Public Art Fund is working with the Parks Department to fix the damage. Both agencies have agreed that the Waterfalls are definitely the culprit of this epidemic, which has also affected the vegetation near the waterfall on Governors Island.
“Discoloration of leaves can be caused by mist from the harbor’s salt water, which can slow a tree’s ability to take in water efficiently,” the Parks Department said in a statement.
In the same statement, the groups announced that the Public Arts Fund would spearhead an effort to deal with the problem.
“We do not believe they are in any long-term danger,” the statement said.
But Promenade-area dwellers, hoping for a prognosis, will need to wait until next summer, when leaves are expected to reappear on trees.
