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Why the Trees on West 44th Street Are Wearing Knit Cozies

By Rosa Goldensohn | May 15, 2015 2:54pm | Updated on May 15, 2015 11:57pm
 Cerutti's creations were inspired by the artist Olek, who covered the Wall Street bull in yarn.
Tree Cozies
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It’s getting hot in Hell’s Kitchen, but the trees on West 44th Street are still wearing their winter scarves.

They wear them all year, thanks to Luisa Cerutti, co-owner of the bright-red housewares store Domus along with partner Nikki Linheimer.

Cerutti has “yarn-bombed” three trees with“tree cozies” bearing messages of joy and peace.

Cerutti, 55, knitted her first tree cozy four years ago as a tribute to two neighborhood youngsters who had died of cancer, Hazen Kennedy and Liam Witt. Their names are stitched into the tree’s bright scarf, along with a smiley face.

“We wanted to create something happy, so people would smile and send good vibrations to them," she said.

Cerutti and Linheimer took measurements of the tree and sewed the scarf on. They take it off for regular washings. When a “dark, ugly” scaffolding for construction went up on their building, Cerutti knitted scarves for the poles "to spread a message of happiness," she said.

When the scaffolding came down, she sewed the cozies with the messages “Be A Rainbow,” “Share A Smile” and “Choose Joy” onto two neighboring trees.

Cerutti and Linheimer sell the wares they find on their travels at Domus, a bright red-painted shop they opened ten years ago at 413 West 44th St.

Cerutti's creations were inspired by the artist Olek, who covered the Wall Street bull in yarn, and also by Linheimer's love of graffiti.