The Last Tree Is Chopped on Demolished Citigroup Plaza

On the demolished plaza in front of the Citigroup building, a worker saws the branches of the last tree to be carted away. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Power saws put an end on Thursday to the last of the 32 trees that for nearly 30 years shaded a Tribeca plaza.

The trees, which stood on Citigroup’s landscaped public space at 388 Greenwich Street, were cut down to removable size and carted away this week, leaving behind some mud-covered paving stones and little else from the once cozy little green space.

Those trees are to be replaced by 47 new ones when the redesigned plaza opens in the third quarter of next year, according to John Krush, Citigroup’s managing director in charge of a five-year, $2-billion building reconstruction project that will transform the look of the 388 Greenwich St. tower and the building next to it, at 390 Greenwich.

Krush told a Community Board 1 committee in December that “a lot” of the current trees could not be saved. “[They] are elevated so they would have to be removed, stored and then put back in the ground again,” he said. “Our tree experts have told us they would never survive it.” He said the trees had a life expectancy of 50 years.

Work on the plaza began last month and is expected to continue for 18 months. The reconstruction project, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, includes the glass replacement of the masonry facade up to the 14th floor on the Greenwich Street and West Street sides of the buildings.

“Basically, everything at eye level will be changed,” TJ Gottesdiener, the project’s main designer, told Community Board 1 last year when the reconstruction plan was first presented.

The financial giant is preparing for a consolidation that will turn the 388-390 Greenwich Street complex into its world headquarters with up to 14,000 workers.

Last month, it was announced that Citigroup had bought back its Tribeca buildings from SL Green for $2 billion.