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Poppies and Sunflowers Replace Litter on Harlem Block

By DNAinfo Staff on August 23, 2010 2:27pm  | Updated on August 24, 2010 5:46am

By Jon Schuppe

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HARLEM — Willie Rainey wanted to show his neighbors — and the drug dealers and addicts who hung out on their block — what a little TLC could do to their rundown part of West 145th Street.

So the 62-year-old out-of-work widower turned to the four skinny trees outside a strip of apartment buildings near Lenox Avenue. The city had planted the shingle oaks and Japanese zelkovas in sidewalk tree pits with the idea of sprucing up the block. But no one seemed to notice or care about them. People threw litter on them. They looked pathetic.

Rainey started scavenging materials for his new project: wood from discarded bed springs, baskets from abandoned shopping carts, other people’s trash. He went to a nearby 99-cent store and bought bouquets of artificial flowers.

Then he erected guards for the trees, and inscribed them with inspiring words, like “Love,” “Happy,” and “Peace.” He added a bucket for smokers to toss their butts. He planted seeds of California poppies, Zinnias and sunflowers.

“‘It’s an example of how we can make our block a better place,” he said.

Rainey is known on the block as “Bronco Willie,” after the old truck he washes at the curb several times a week. He grew up on a farm in South Carolina, and moved to New York 30 years ago. He worked a series of jobs, mostly fixing up and parking cars, before going out on disability.

A couple years ago, his wife died of breast cancer. Then his son left for college. He needed something to keep busy.

The Parks Department encourages residents to keep tree pits in good condition, and publishes tips to keep them healthy. But Rainey said he relies instead on what he learned on the farm.

When he first started work on the tree project, addicts and dealers and other loiterers snapped buds off the flowers. But that stopped after Rainey confronted them and asked for a little respect.

That was late last fall. Now, nearly a year later, the tree pits are tiny oases of thick leaves and colorful flowers. Navy beans have begun sprouting in one. In another, sunflowers stand waist-high.

The one exception is one tree that has died. While Rainey waits for the city to replace it, he has added fake leaves and plastic ornaments. A miniature chair and apple hang from the highest branches.

People see him with a garden hose, watering his creations, and tell him, “I like what you’re doing.”

“They respect it when they see I’m trying to make a difference,” Rainey said.