For the past few years, about 250 dogwood trees have been blooming in what was once an open field covered in green grass. But the fate of those trees has been left dangling like a dead tree limb.

The dogwoods, found along Mosholu Parkway, were planted by the forestry division of the New York City Department of Parks in 2014. An official explanation on why they’re being removed in September is not clear.

But Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland, said she first heard the news by a Parks employee who explained the dogwoods would be removed citing complaints from residents who hadn’t been informed of the plantings. A discovery that the trees had been mistakenly planted on historic landscape was another reason.

A spokesman for the Parks Department noted the parkway appears on the Capital “Legacy Park” list, a status that takes into consideration the consistent look of an area.

Quaranta, who favors keeping the trees, contacted the National Register of Landscape Preservation and was told that they do not have Mosholu Parkway legally registered as a historic landscape, but that it may be viewed so by local residents.

Quaranta now believes that the removal of the trees is solely based on the complaints of a few influential members of the community, members who have yet to come forward. She also suspects some of the complaints may be from older members of the community who recall using the now occupied open field for pastimes like football.

“We didn’t know either that those trees were going to be planted there. However, we welcomed them because they were put there for good reason. And if you move the clock to today, they actually have benefitted us already,” said Quaranta.

The trees have had several benefits including soaking up water from heavy rainfalls that would erode the soil, creating a greener lawn and healthier trees, and less noticeably, absorbing pollutants from the many cars that travel on the parkway daily, according to Quaranta.

Quaranta sees no environmental reason to remove the trees, calling the matter ironic. “Because they [the residents] complained that they weren’t involved in the planting of those trees, does that give them the right to again not involve the rest of the community and take them out just for political reasons? Are we taking them out for political reasons or are they environmental?” said Quaranta.

Talks regarding the dogwood trees are still ongoing, according to Bronx Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, who told the Norwood News, “We will continue the dialogue with our elected partners and community stakeholders to determine the next steps.”

In the hopes of putting a halt to any dogwood removal plans, the Friends of Mosholu Parkland has sent a letter to both the Bronx borough president and the Parks commissioner. They will also be circulating an online petition.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.