Residents opposing a plan to rearrange trees along Mosholu Parkway secured a victory after Community Board 7’s Parks Committee voted down the plan, ending a yearlong question over whether the New York City Department of Parks (DOP) would move forward with a project that wasn’t well received.

Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland, an advocacy group for the lea, didn’t characterize CB7’s decision as a win, but an education for the Parks Department.

“[This] is really just doing the right thing for the environment and our future for Mosholu [Parkway],” Quaranta said via a Facebook chat. “I wouldn’t call it a win.”

During their meeting on Jan. 11, Community Board 7’s Parks Committee voted to keep the dogwood trees where they are while requesting the mulch around each tree be reduced. The committee heard from the DOP, which presented alternatives to the current placement of the dogwood trees. Estimates for the three projects ranged from $475,000 to $919,000.

Much of why Parks revisited the issue stemmed from rectifying perceived issues of community etiquette. The current Parks administration believed the agency bypassed CB7 for input in 2012 during initial talk of the project that eventually saw 200 dogwood trees planted at the thruway’s center mall. The project doubled as a sponge for excessive flooding while deterring residents from playing organized football or soccer games there.

When the project was first introduced, CB7 was not given the chance to formally offer input on the project, according to Barbara Stronczer, Parks Committee chair. Foresters for the DOP opted to simply gauge interest from residents who voiced opinions on the parkway’s overall appearance, according to Quaranta, who presented a petition that opposed removal.

Though the trees have been widely accepted, the presence of mulch around each of the trees drew criticism from Stronczer who opined the trees have darkened a parkway that’s largely green.

Commissioner for the Bronx Department of Parks, Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, warned that the second request can be “more complicated,” since the agency’s seeding machinery may not be equipped to plant seeds around the perimeter of trees.

The committee still hopes to see at least the parkway’s perimeters re-seeded. The full board is expected to vote on the matter sometime in February.

Editor’s Note: The print version of this article misidentifies Iris Rodriguez-Rosa’s name. The Norwood News regrets the error. 

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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.