It seems money grows on trees for the Parks Department.

The city agency looks to spend several hundred thousand dollars to dig up close to 200 trees along Mosholu Parkway and replant them, leaving those want the young arbors exactly where they are scratching their heads.

Parks explained in a letter to Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland, a volunteer advocacy group, that the agency “is currently reviewing its plans for the transplanting of these trees,” adding “no work will be done until the plans are reviewed by and confirmed with the community.”

Still, the mere decision for reconfiguring the plants angered Quaranta who’s harangued the Parks Department to reconsider the plan.

“The magnitude scale of this project and its cost was overseen under the previous administration and therefore many community members are questioning the integrity of Parks’ decisions moving forward,” wrote Quaranta to Parks. “In other words, why should we trust you now with this decision?”

Two years ago crews planted the dogwood trees, also known as a Hound’s Tree, on the parkway’s malls as a way to stave off erosion of the parkway. An unintended consequence was stopping the malls from becoming vulnerable play areas, which drew mixed reaction. Much of the fear stems from organized games where a ball may bounce onto the busy roadway. The cost of the project was $300,000, paid through the Parks Department’s capital budget, along with a donation from the New York Tree Trust via state allocation. It’s unclear how much the impending transplant project will cost.

Jimmy Cee, walking his dog name Frisk on one of Mosholu Parkway’s malls, finds it more pragmatic to build a barrier fence on the sides of the mall. “It would be sensible to do that than to place life and uproot it,” Cee said.

Not too far away, Jet Ismailgeci, playing with his dog Squishy, asked, “What’s wrong just the way they are?” He suggested the project’s budget should go towards trash bins that are few and far between in Norwood.

Julio Roldan, leisurely sitting alongside Mosholu Parkway’s benches, called the upcoming project “a waste of money.”

“They should just leave it alone,” Roldan said.

Parks ensured Quaranta in its letter that it will “follow best practices and will site the trees in a location appropriate for their health and planting requirements.”

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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.