East Rock newcomers joined longtime residents of a dwindling Polish enclave as a new group — nicknamed SoHu — stitched together a neighborhood with a new canopy of trees.
Elijah Rivera, 11 (at right in photo), shoveled dirt. Janina Dziurzynska (second from right) manned the hose. They were helping to plant a Kousa Dogwood Wednesday, as East Rock neighbors put in another day’s work on an ambitious, 10-week tree-planting project.
The young trees have sprouted from newfound neighborhood synergy known by the name “SoHu.”
“SoHu“ refers to the area South of Humphrey, covering Clark, Pearl and Pleasant Streets, quiet rows of homes bounded by Orange and State Streets. This distinctive sector of East Rock, with its brownstone row houses, was historically a stronghold of the city’s Polish population. Kids went to the now-defunct St. Stanislaus school and ate at Polish delis. Some, like Dziurzynska, have stayed on as the area transformed.
The week before, Dziurzynska had received her own sapling outside her Pleasant Street home. Wednesday, she helped Pearl Street neighbors set theirs in the ground.
“This is great!” she said, taking a few more turns with the shovel before heading off to her job at a convalescent home.
Dziurzynska was one of over two dozen people who hauled mulch together on Wednesday evening, planting five new trees. The roots were set down as a neighborhood network grows stronger.
The network began as a monthly “cookies and community” gathering led by Lisa Siedlarz (pictured at left, with Urban Resources Initiative intern Yi-Wen Lin) of Pearl Street. The group met in a corner church. An email list grew, and the group mushroomed into what is now the largest blockwatch in the city. A recent meeting drew 43 people to a backyard.
Jim Austin, a young homeowner on Pleasant Street, gave the group its name. He also saw the chance to harness the energy to a new project.
“I thought we should turn it into a tree group,” he said, wiping his hands after patting some dirt around a newly rooted sapling one recent afternoon.
With a city grant and resources from the Urban Resources Initiative, the group embarked on an ambitious project to plant 40 new trees in the ground, reinstating missing canopies around Pleasant, Clark and Pearl. As of Wednesday, 18 were in the ground, said Austin (pictured), who wrote the grant and is directing the project.
The tree project has many fruits, Austin reasoned: Besides beautifying the somewhat barren streetscape, the restored canopies can serve as a traffic calming tool. And planting the trees makes the neighborhood stronger by bringing people together.
“I’ve met more neighbors” through tree planting “than I’ve met in the last four years” living on Pleasant Street, Austin said.
Gabe, Chris and Paul, lifelong buddies who grew up on this trio of streets and went to St. Stan’s, rode together between work sites. Strapped to the back of Paul’s four-wheeler was a cooler of water.
Not to be deterred by the lack of a jackhammer, neighbors tore up the sidewalk with bare hands and sledge hammers. Molly Clark-Barol (at left in photo at top of story), a recent Yale graduate, swung a sledge hammer while grad students Jeff Chatellier and Scott Hunter (at left and center) pried up the asphalt with Paul (at far right).
Each tree gets adopted by a nearby resident who agrees to water it. As a reminder to keep the trees well-hydrated, the URI-led crew planted perennial flowers besides the trunks. People will notice if flowers wilt, then pull out the watering can, the logic goes.
Joel Tolman (pictured), who teaches history at Common Ground High School, became the proud parent of a blight-resistant Lace-Bark Elm. He was pleased to have a prettier view from his Clark Street porch. Having learned that most URI trees go to East Rock and Westville, he said he hoped to spread the word about the program to other neighborhoods, too.
The group will continue tree-planting on Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. To get involved with SoHu, visit the web site or email here.
URI (Urban Resources Initiative) is the best. Way to go, Yi-Wen, and residents of Sohu. Together we are greening and beautifying neighborhoods all over New Haven. Sohu, East Rock, Dixwell, Newhallville, Beaver Hill, Westville, the Hill, Dwight, and Fair Haven. Look around you everyone. Somewhere near you is a URI Greenspace garden waiting for you to come and help. Plant a tree, pull a weed, make a new friend. Dig in.