TREES NEW YORK
1998 Street Tree Award Gala
Remarks by Mr. Mortimer Levitt, December 7, 1998

I was hoping Marge might say some of those nice things, but I think she might have added a few more (joke). Yet, I do not want to be misunderstood, I am not complaining. I am so pleased to be given this chance to sag a few words about trees: don't bother to brace yourself, I will be brief.

Mimi and I live on East 82nd Street. In 1950, when we bought our house, the Metropolitan Museum was dead, and 82nd Street was dead. In those days, very few people went to the museum, and there were no trees, other than the two at 1010 Fifth Avenue, O. Roy Chalk's apartment house on the corner. I bought a Ginko tree to celebrate Mimi's birthday, and persuaded our neighbor, Fred Levinson, to join me. And that, dear tree lovers, initiated a parade.

Tom Hoving brought the museum to life, and the trees - we now have twenty-four - have brought the street to life; what a difference the trees have made.

From April through November, the trees give us active pleasure. In April, we wait eagerly for those first buds to show, and then watch, day by day, waiting for the leaves to break out in that brilliant green - it's magic! We watch the white flowers come and go (too quickly), and then watch the trees get full and fuller, and get, still fuller, almost to the point of bursting. Then in the fall we watch the colors change to signal the coming of winter.

Trees make wonderful friends, and every year we watch our tree play out an entire life cycle. Trees give so much and they cost so little; in the scheme of things, a pittance. "Comparisons are odious," but let's compare the cost of a live tree with a dead Jackson Pollack painting, or even a Van Gogh. You can get a new tree, completely installed, for four hundred dollars. They go up as high as six hundred dollars, but a Jackson Pollack would be a bargain at six hundred thousand. And an indifferent Van Gogh would be a bargain at six million. Paintings are hot in today's market, but obviously, the trees are a much better buy. Spread the word.

Two weeks ago there was an unhappy piece in the Sunday Times about a fire at 254 Lincoln Road in Brooklyn. I lived at 308 Lincoln Road until I was twenty-nine. There were no trees then, and I could see by the photograph, there are no trees now. Meaning, that we still have a long wag to go.

Mimi and I appreciate your presence, and hope that the trees will become as meaningful to you as they have been for us. You might even want to consider giving one as a gift. A unique gift that would be very much appreciated for a long, long time, because a tree comes to life again and again and again.

And that's it friends, that's the whole kit and kaboodle. Thank you for listening. Oh!, I almost forgot. Mimi and I are so pleased with the work of this organization, we have decided to make another contribution, a contribution equal to the amount they will have cleared with this fundraiser; We really love those trees!