Species<\/b> Magnolia grandiflora <\/p>\n
In 1968, this magnolia tree, then over 40 feet tall, was supposed to be cut down to make way for an apartment complex. Hattie Carthan jumped into action. Ms. Carthan, an environmentalist and activist in the Black community, moved to Brooklyn in 1928 and had a deep love for trees. In 1966, she founded the Bedford-Stuyvesant Beautification Committee, which planted more than 1,500 trees and also taught youth groups about caring for them \u2014 not a popular mission at the time. \u201cWhen I first suggested that we buy trees, I almost got thrown out of the block association,\u201d Ms. Carthan told The New York Times in 1975<\/a>. \u201cThey said, \u2018Oh, trees make leaves and you have to sweep.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Carthan was so determined to save the magnolia on Lafayette Avenue, which was estimated to have been planted in about 1885, that she campaigned for it to be designated by the city\u2019s Landmarks Preservation Commission as a living landmark \u2014 and won. Today it is the sole remaining landmark tree in New York City. <\/p>\n