Sunset Park
-
A Great Wall
Sunset Park is buttressed by a rough stone retaining wall that has become the home of numerous lifeforms. Above is the southwest-facing flank. Here’s the northeast wall, along 41st St. That’s where all the following were found:The presence of lichen, which doesn’t tolerate pollution, means the air here is relatively good. Indeed, elevated near the…
-
Stinkhorns
Stinkhorns in Sunset Park. Genus Mutinus, but I’m not sure of the species, caninus, ravenelii? These are not all that unfamiliar in the urban context: mulched areas of parks are a good place to find them. These mushrooms, of the Phallaceae family, are atypical fungi: they produce a stinky slime to attract flies, who then…
-
Mighty Elm
An enormous American Elm (Ulmus americana) crowding a yard on 44th Street near 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park. The old giant took us by surprise: the neighborhood still suffers from the blight of highway above 3rd Avenue, a product of the 1940s and a wretched vision of a promised land of highways to segregated suburbs.…
Backyard and Beyond 