BESPOKE: HARLEM’S TREE OF HOPE
Harlem Bespoke: We stopped and looked at the Tree of Hope statue on the 7th Avenue mall by 131st Street recently and still kind of wonder if maybe one day a tree stump sculpture replicating the original might be added on to the site. Legend has it that entertainers during the Renaissance years would rub on the stump for good luck before arriving at one of the nightclubs in the area and the memory of the tree has since endured. Harlem definitely went through a few decades in the mid century that only modern things were deemed relevant and an abstract tree was placed on the site in 1972 after the stump was removed.
The original tree was such an interactive monument to the neighborhood and local children would touch it to make a wish. Maybe one day a bronze cast of the stump can be placed on site so that the full history can be shared with the neighborhood and bring back the actual tradition of touching this this mythic artifact from a century ago. More on the Tree of Hope can be found in our past post: LINK