Jamaica BID looks to spruce up sidewalk greenery — or lack thereof

The Jamaica Center BID has planted two trees on their mission to bring greenery back to  Jamaica Ave. Photo courtesy of Jamaica Center BID

By Rachel Vick

After an examination found that 20 of the tree pits along Jamaica Avenue were missing trees or in disrepair, the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District rolled up their sleeves to make the avenue a little greener.

After more than a year fighting for funding, the BID partnered up with the Horticultural Society of New York to fix up six spots on one end of the district with city funds and have already planted two new trees.

“We want this to be a place where people want to spend time,” said BID Executive Director Jenn Furioli. “This is a town square, we want people to linger and see their neighbors and spend time shopping instead of rushing off.”

The funding allocated by Former Councilmember Rory Lancman is going towards three trees, guards to help maintain the sidewalk and new soil to keep the trees healthy — bringing coverage that Furioli said she hopes will bring respite to the shade-starved district.

The Horticultural Society was tapped to bring their plant expertise to the project, and are responsible for choosing trees and working with contractors.

Now the BID is working to get the greater community involved in fixing up the other 13 blighted pits further down Jamaica Avenue that are on their to-do list, which Furioli is hoping will be covered by a grant instead of securing individual pit sponsors.

“It’s one of Queens’ busiest shopping districts and I think it would be a really wonderful thing to just green up the avenue,” Furioli said. “These things take time but that's my vision — to fill every pit with a healthy tree.”