City Cuts the Amount of Time the Falls Will Fall in Half

As predicted on Gothamist last week, concerns about the waterfalls damaging nearby trees have caused the city to decrease their operating time from 101 to 49.5 hours per week starting next Monday. The Public Art Fund says that an environmental assessment was done beforehand and that "an anemometer (wind meter) has been installed at each site, which shuts each waterfall off in the case of sustained winds that may blow saltwater onto the surrounding areas." However, the reduction in the running time of the falls is being taken as an extra precaution after leaves on trees surrounding the Brooklyn Bridge and Governors Island waterfalls were turning prematurely brown.