The crowds of out-of-towners who clog Midtown streets each December are as reliable a part of the holiday season as “Jingle Bells.” But every year there’s one invader that plants itself on New York City’s sidewalks and brings pedestrians to a standstill, yet no one seems to mind.
They’re the hundreds of Christmas tree vendors who work around the clock from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, many of whom descend on the city from Vermont, Canada or other points north, for one marathon month of sidewalk selling.
It takes a hardy breed to spend 30 straight days sleeping in a car, eating from cartons, working through cold, rain and snow and coping with tree thieves and whatever other surprises the streets of New York City might offer. We checked in with a few to get the lowdown on working the city’s most offbeat seasonal job.
Danny Dubé, 37
Lives in: Quebec, Canada
Corner: Houston Street and Bowery
What do you do the rest of the year?
I’m an unemployed schoolteacher. I teach geography, French and English as a second language. I used to be a tree planter. I did it for 14 years, but I had to come back to teaching because I was having problems with my knees, my joints.
How long have you been doing this?
This is my first year.
How did you end up doing this?
A friend of a friend of a friend. I decided in about October to come out here. My friend convinced me he had a good set-up and a nice area.
How do you make it work living out of your car for a month?
It’s an insane living style. We’re doing 18 hours a day. I work from around 1 p.m. to 6 in the morning. I shower at the Y. That’s my shelter right there, my friend’s van. Last night with the wind and the rain I had to go in and hide.
Are women attracted to tree sellers?
I’ve met a few women. But I have only a couple hours to go for a quick coffee or beer. But if I drink beer, then I have to stay awake all night and that’s not any good, so I have to stay sober, pretty much. And healthy. You can’t be sick here. I have vitamins, a lot of powders. Energy drinks. Eat well.
Will you come back?
I don’t know. Depends on my teaching employment. I’d rather do that, but it’s a good experience here. I’m loving it. I’m a traveler of the world, and here I’m meeting people from everywhere. Talking in Spanish, French, English. Switching the language all the time. It’s a rush.
Edward Chin, 25
Lives in: East Village
Corner: Second Ave. and 10th Street
What do you do the rest of the year?
I host travelers. I’m an actor. Entrepreneur. I build bikes.
How long have you been doing this?
This is my first year.
How did you end up selling trees?
I met [my partner, Joseph Schommer] on a bike tour between New York and Philly, the weekend of Halloween. We were riding through 42 degrees in the pouring rain, and after that day we said we can pretty much do anything together. This was one of the things he wanted to do, so we just made it happen. I live near here, so we crash at my apartment. So it’s a different setup than the guys in the Winnebagos.
How do you get the trees?
We cut them down ourselves. We chainsawed about 550 of them. Most places order their trees, then a lot of them have workers that work for them. We also deliver the trees by bike.
We have a lot of friends who are musicians. My girlfriend is going to come down and play an acoustic set later. We don’t want it just to be about trees. We want it to be an environment that people want to come to.
Is the money good?
We’ll see.
Would you come back?
It’s a lot of hard work. The hours are hard. I still work at a wine bar three days a week. I get 12 hours of sleep on a weekend.
Any unusual customers?
The strangest thing is the number of people who come up asking for work. We’ve had a lot of homeless. But it’s amazing how the community has come together around us. One customer brought us these stockings she made. Another one took pictures off our Facebook page and drew up this little flier for us. That’s what’s so great about this.
Rich Notholt
Lives in: Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Corner: Norfolk and Houston Sts.
What do you do the rest of the year?
I work for SJ Energy. I sell electricity and natural gas. We’re an alternative to Con Edison and Natural Grid. I’m a salesman. And I do this on the holidays. I love it.
How did you end up doing this?
This is my friends’ stand. I’m not sure how they got into it, but we’re not one of those guys that come down from Canada. We’re not the carpetbaggers, come on. Listen to the way I tawk here.
What are your hours?
We’re open 24/7, but I leave out of here at 10:30, 11 o’clock at night. I go home to my nice warm bed. My nice wife. My nice home-cooked meal.
Is the money good?
I’m not getting rich, that’s for sure. But I’m a salesman, I like interacting with people. You see a lot of families come through with their kids. Some of them are just learning about Christmas and you watch their eyes light up. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to go shopping for our Christmas tree. Course it is cold as hell out here.
What have you learned by working out here?
Last year I worked the night shift. A lot of drunk people come by. But it’s very difficult for people to steal something or be nasty to you when you say, “How ya doin’? Merry Christmas!” Also they can’t pick up the big trees and run, so we put those on the ends.
Kirstine Astrup Jepsen, 25
Lives in: Quebec, Canada
Corner: Astor Place and Lafayette Street
What do you do the rest of the year?
I work with handicapped people and my husband is a student. He’s going to start in January, studying medicine.
How long have you been doing this?
It’s my first year. We only decided two weeks before we came. I had the month off and he was starting in January, so we thought, why not?
How did you end up here?
My husband did it four years ago, and he knows a lot of people that do it. We came four days before we got the stand, just waiting to get a call to see where we’d go. This stand has been here for 20 years, but the people who had it the last couple of years didn’t come back, so we got it.
What’s it like living out of your car for a month?
That’s why I have so much clothes on. Two jackets and three pants. The heat is in the van. We sleep in the van. He’s sleeping right now. Yesterday, with the rain and the wind, it was tough.
Is the money good?
It depends on how much we sell. This is Manhattan, so it’s high priced. We talked to other stands in Queens and Jersey — they don’t get as much. Our trees go from $20 to $350. When it comes to selling I can get away with all kinds of things my husband can’t. You read the people and then you see how much you can charge them.
Will you come back?
[If we] really need money. It’s not the job — the job is good. I’m busy, and everyone’s happy buying Christmas trees. It’s the sleeping in the van, it’s the no privacy. There’s just the two of us, so most of the time he is asleep and I am awake. No spare time at all. We don’t get paid till December 24th, so we don’t spend much money. I eat like one meal a day.
Tom Gilmartin, 57
Lives in: Nikiski, Alaska
Corner: Ninth Avenue and 22nd Street
What do you do the rest of the year?
I run commercial trawlers. Scallops. Cod. Flounder. Twenty years I’ve been fishing fish out of Whittier, Alaska, up on Prince William Sound.
How long have you been doing this?
For 17 years, except the year my son Rory was born. His birthday’s December 10th. I tried to convince my wife to have him here in the camper, but she wouldn’t do it. Now he comes with us. We’ve been homeschooling him while we’re here.
How long does it take to drive from Alaska?
We’ve done it in four and a half days — it’s 5,500 miles — but typically we take 12 to 16 days. Different way every time. Back-roading.
How did you end up doing this?
My brother-in-law and sister were doing this down on Jane and 8th. Their company hired me because I was a skipper on a boat and I was used to riding people.
Is the money good?
We each get paid, so that’s nice. My first year we each made $3,500. That’s all I’ll tell you. I’m on my 17th year now. It’s gotten better.
How do you make it work living out of your camper for a month?
There’s only two of us, and we do it in shift work. People sometimes bring us food. We’re here 30 days, and out of that I’d say at least ten days one of the neighbors brings us down a plate. The rest of the time we just get takeout. Chinese. Ray’s. We’re always offered showers at people’s houses, but we use the hostel on 21st Street. Donate a tree and they let us use the showers.
What have you learned from working on the street for 17 years?
You never catch the tree thieves. You just chase them a little and make them run fast. We had a transvestite steal one four nights ago. My wife was out here making wreaths in the middle of the night and a guy in platform shoes came right up and just marched off with a tree, waving it down the street saying, “I got my tree.” She just let him go.