Night of the Tree Hoist

Click the picture — or click here — and turn up the sound for a sweet little slide show from last night.



This was the view of 40th Street from the window behind my desk.



The night staff at The New York Times got a rare window feast.
Ok, not really. Most of us watched for over an hour and a half while they put the crane together. THAT was exciting (rolls eyes).

It was around midnight when the crane crew arrived to start
THE GREAT TREE HOIST.



Seven paper birch trees were delivered here from New Jersey, to be planted in the garden atrium that is surrounded by the Times newsroom.



The trees are big, or at least they look HONKIN’ big in the middle of 40th Street. At 25 years old and 50 feet tall, once planted in the garden, they will rise to the fourth floor windows. (Admittedly, the scale is hard to see, but the little orange road cone might give you an idea.)



That’s my window across the street from Popeye’s.



This picture might help a little with scale. Those root balls are the length of a car. The crane men are standing only about 15 feet away from the trees, so it’s not really a tricky photograph.

By the way, the night was a bit like the opening scene in Jurassic Park: misty rain, dripping wet trees, artificial flood lights, men in yellow construction rain suits, lots and LOTS of shouting. I was half expecting a raptor to jump of the back of the truck and start eating people.
Then this guy — he looked just like the guy in Jurassic Park who got eaten — walks up to me and he says, “How long you staying?”

Me: “I have a train to catch.”

Guy: “You need to stay all night, cuz one of them there tees is going through one of them there windows.”



I didn’t stay long enough to see a tree actually being lifted over the building and into the courtyard. But I did learn something new: crane assembly takes a REALLY long time.



Like I said, I had a train to catch.



But somebody was watching.



Check back next week for some courtyard shots, assuming the trees made it safely to their new home.