In a new commission from the artist and architect Maya Lin, the wide, flat lawns of Madison Square Park have been transformed into a forest of cedars, tall and stately. It’s an incredibly striking display—a dramatic disruption of the urban landscape that rather forcibly reminds one of what all this once was: dense and sprawling woodland where black bears, beavers, wolves, and other wildlife roamed. Yet these new trees aren’t nearly as numerous or robust as their predecessors; in fact, they’re only barely hanging on to life.

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