A corner of the Upper West Side just got a whole lot uglier

I live down the street and took this photograph of a plaza on the corner of 94th and Columbus Avenue after workers chopped down several raised beds filled with blooming cherry trees. Looming overhead is the Marquis, a seriously banal apartment building, which got to be extra tall by installing the plaza with the cherry trees. I stopped and leaned into the chain link fence. The plaza is being redone explained a helmeted man who approached as branches crashed to the pavement and blossoms floated into the air. Cutting them down is cheaper than scooping and relocating. Not my decision, he shrugged apologetically. Speak to the landlord. Two massive beds in a fenced off section still had a few days left to bloom. But calls to the Marquis went unanswered. Meanwhile, a poorly painted low-rise building adjacent to the plaza announced the opening of the Dwight School for youngsters. Perhaps the teachers will tell them the story of George Washington and the cherry tree! I can provide pictures.