The Queens Giant

I really enjoyed experiencing this amazing creature. We entered the park at East Hampton Blvd. around 58^th rd. We followed the trail for a very short time and glanced down into the ravine where we could barely spot the green sign and fence around the bottom of the tree. There was no easy way to get down to see it, so we just got down there the best we could. It is truly an amazing tree.

It doesn’t seem quite as big as you’d expect, but that is partially due to its location at the bottom of a hill.

Few indeed are those amongst moderne men who have beheld with their own eyes this work of divine Nature, and I am sure, there are many who have seen it and have not understood it. The Queens Giant is located in an off-​the-​path grove, on the overgrown grounds of Alley Pond Park (
) I will not clarify its location further, but it can be found somewhere within these 657 acres of parklands (I did not find it either upon my first visit). The Giant is an ancient tulip tree (liriodendron tulipfera) and in the year 2000, was certified as the oldest living thing in the Metro area.. . an individual with age dating back to times when this territory was first settled by colonists, when the area that is now called Queens was known as «New Netherland.» Though not the tallest tree in NYC, this one has a wicked circumference, and is naturally hollowed out enough at the Western base to permit a normal-​sized man to fit inside, and allow spirits of the sky and underworld to enter and leave this earthly plane at will. A ten foot fence surrounds perimeter of the tree, and chicken wire is bound about the tree’s portal to deter one from using it recklessly. Standing underneath the towering branches, one can only feel the energy, listen to the vibes, and imagine the root system underground that holds this organism to the ground and and think to oneself: «Earth, teach me courage, as the tree which stands all alone.»