The 9/11 Tree | Made With Kickstarter | The New York Times

A tree that was wounded by the September 11 attacks has regained its health, with the help of a caretaker, and returned to its home.

Produced by: Scott Elliot

Visit the filmmaker's website: http://www.thetreesfilm.com/

Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/1xBTnIj

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The 9/11 Tree | Made With Kickstarter | The New York Times
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes

Right now, we are standing at
Arthur Ross Citywide Nursery

in Van Cortlandt Park.

And behind me, we have
the 9/11 survivor tree.

The 9/11 survivor tree is
a Cleveland Callery pear

and we used them in the city
a lot for the street trees

because they tend to grow straight up
and they don't branch very low.

This pear tree was not
the only pear tree down there,

There were numerous pear trees in
10-foot square cement planters.

This tree just happened
to be very, very close

to the Trade Center building
when it collapsed.

(Woman, off screen)
Oh my God!

(Man, off screen)
What was that?

All the upper branches on this tree
were shattered and torn off.

This entire tree was no taller than
8 feet when we got it.

It was what we would consider
mortally wounded.

I didn't think the tree would survive.
I had just started working here then.

The tree just symbolizes, for me,

the beginning of my career
here at the nursery.

I was also wounded.
I was a correction officer.

I got shot in the line of duty
then I was able to bounce back,

and the tree was the same way.

If you look at it from far away,
you never could tell anything was wrong.

You have to actually go up close,

take a look at the bark

where the crown started growing again,

and that would tell you the story.

That's when you know that,

"Wow, this tree really went
through something."

There isn't all that much we can do

other than clean its wounds

and give it a good place to grow
and absorb nutrients.

The tree was about 30 years old
when it came up here.

Now, it's closer to 40 years old.

But it still has a good
30 to 40 years to go,

and maybe more.

(Construction sound and dialogue)

They're here today to take
the survivor tree back

She's going to go back
for a ceremony tomorrow,

and it's a really emotional day for me.

I'm happy she's going back,
and it's just a lot of meaning

when I look at the tree.

What's up Ron?
- Hey

How's everything? It's a big day, huh?
- A big day.

There's always a mixed emotion
because this means that it's real.

This means that
we're gonna bring her home.

And with that comes
the memories of, you know,

the fact that it had
to leave in the first place.

- Where were you working in 2001?

(Ron) Did you see it, the Department
of Design and Construction?

That you were down there?

Yeah, I was down there for 10 months,
10 months on that elbow.

So when we saw this tree,
it was a lot of inspiration.

It's the last living thing
to get out of that site, too.

The frame is too high,
we're over at 13'6,

which is illegal travel height,
so I need to find an open-air route

down to the trade center,
so we don't hit any overpasses.

(instrumental folk guitar)

She's probably really
gonna take off nicely

because she's gonna be
in fertile soil, irrigated soil.

It's got aeration. It's got fertilization.

The whole plaza in essence
is a roof-top garden.

It's a 6-foot-deep planter box.

She's gonna grow evenly.
She's a little bowed to one side.

But as soon as the sun hits it,

It'll start reaching out toward the sun,
and it'll grow out evenly.

So, it's gonna look good.

(piano and brass)

This time of the year,

usually the second
or third week of April,

is when this tree will bloom.

The tree just attracts so many people.

The thing that's interesting
about here is that

there's not a sign on the tree,
there's not a plaque.

There's nothing here to tell
people that this tree is special.

There's a monoculture of white oaks here,

and yet the people here
are going to this one tree.

And they know,
without anyone telling them,

that this is a special tree.

This pear tree represents to me

the ability of not only an organism
to regrow and thrive,

it also represents how
our great city of New York is.

Yes, it will take a hit,
but we're a survivor city.

This tree is prolific, the way
that it will seed out.

So, I'm sure that birds are
spreading seeds of this tree

all around Manhattan and this area,

in many more ways than one,
this tree has come home.