Peter Pendule, like so many others, came to New York City for the holidays. Unlike most, he arrived here early from near the Canadian border with a single mission in mind this holiday season: sell as many Christmas trees as he can.
Although Pendule stayed briefly with an acquaintance in a Chelsea apartment, these days, he spends most of his time at work at “Le Chic Shack,” his small, makeshift cabin on the sidewalk at the corner of Broadway and 73rd Street. He’s surrounded by a small forest for sale, and gets some shut-eye in a vehicle when he isn’t busy working.
Pendule is part of a small seasonal shift of Christmas tree vendors, sometimes referred to as “tree men,” who set up on city sidewalks often in small shacks. For many New Yorkers, the sight of freshly cut firs, balsams and spruces lining the streets of the big city, filling the air with that unmistakable evergreen fragrance, is as important a sign of the holiday season’s arrival as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.
Vendors have been hawking Christmas trees on the sidewalks of New York since 1938, when the City Council — in defiance of the popular Mayor Fiorello La Guardia — passed a law stopping his Christmas tree vending crackdown.
La Guardia had ordered that all sidewalk tree vendors get licenses, a costly endeavor that nearly put the temporary trade out of business. The Council was moved to pass legislation, known as the Coniferous Tree Exception, permitting the sale of Christmas trees on sidewalks as long as store owners approved.
The law refers to the right of “storekeepers and peddlers” to “sell and display coniferous trees” pre-Christmas, although it originally referred to “Christmas trees” until religious language was changed in 1984.
This is Pendule’s fifth year of bringing a small forest for sale to Manhattan. A family-run company (not his family) brings in the trees, grown in Quebec, and helps him set up shop, although Pendule helps outfit his small shack.
“It depends,” Pendule said of the speed of sales, surveying his small forest of trees three to 12 feet tall. “Some days we don’t sell any, and some other day we can sell 20.”
Pendule and his partner build a small shack that keeps him warm and sheltered as he works, typically from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. A small heater near a workbench battles the winter chill.
“We use wood that we find in the street. We use mostly palettes and scrap from trash,” Pendule said in his sidewalk shack with plastic stretched overhead for shelter. “There’s so much stuff lying on the side of the street that’s great to find.”
Trees typically go for $30 a foot, and he will deliver and “install,” if you prefer. He has a wooden Jewish Star of David for sale as well, as some people buy Hanukkah bushes.
And he makes and sells small wooden snowmen and reindeer (no red nose if you want just a deer without religious implications.)
“We sell them, and people love them,” he said of the various miniature figures displayed on a wooden counter. “Everything is $20.”
Artificial trees have taken over some of the business and small trees are in style, as many New Yorkers have small apartments. Bigger trees, however, also find homes.
“Lots of people have small apartments, so they go with a smaller tree,” said Pendule. “Some have room, so they know what they want.”
Although the holiday gig is his winter business, Pendule said the rest of the year he helps supply first aid products to companies. He said he also co-founded a nonprofit to bring people with disabilities to the outdoors.
He still looks forward to his annual trip to New York City, where others may see the Rockettes, even if retail is his destination. He views what he does as a service, a tradition, and an integral part of the holiday season.
Not quite a tourist, he spends very little time away from his trees, watching over and selling to passersby and talking with more than his share of window shoppers.
“I do fun things in New York, but it’s pretty hard because of the long days, long hours,” he said. “It’s physical work with the cold and everything. It’s hard to go out and meet people.”
He has gone rock climbing in Central Park, visited Christie’s, where he saw a Picasso, and he has been to some wine bars.
Over five years, he has found his own new holiday traditions. A local resident built a beautiful, small, colorful, artificial palm tree that Pendule displays, with colorful lights blinking.
“We try to offer him exposure,” Pendule said. “It’s been four years since he has been building stuff for us just to show.”
Pendule also hands out sheets of paper with the outlines of a scene, including a tree for children (and some adults) to color in, and frames and posts one at a time at his shack, currently displaying one drawn by “Hazel.”
“She’s a kid from the neighborhood,” Pendule said. “We give Christmas drawings to kids, and if they bring them back, we exhibit them.”
Pendule says he has gotten to know some people, hearing about their problems, plans, dreams, and daily lives. Not a sidewalk Santa, he is part of the season for many.
“We organize a neighborhood block party here with music, Santa Claus and some other surprises,” Pendule added.
As we talked, some passersby stopped to stare, ponder, and maybe take a first pass before a purchase. One window shopper said simply, “Muy lindo, nice” before walking by. Another would-be shopper came by from a local store, mentioning his own love for the holiday and this time of year.
“You gotta cook, bring your family and watch movies,” a man who said his name was Wilson said as he stopped in front of this small forest. “Home Alone is the best one.”
He was shopping for mistletoe, though, not trees, so he left this seasonal sidewalk shop empty-handed. “I just gotta decorate. I waited the whole year for these three weeks,” Wilson said. “You know that this is the happiest time of year.”
Pendule said he started in 2020 when there were more homeless people, but said that, late at night, sidewalks these days empty out more than in recent years. “At 11, nobody’s outside,” he said. “I don’t know what happened. People are going out less.”
He sees himself as part of the neighborhood this time of year, part salesperson, part therapist, part friend.
“I know everybody around,” Pendule added. “I have a lot of returning customers because my trees last. One person told me they kept their tree till April, which is crazy, but they still look good.”
Pendule will head home right before Christmas and celebrate, although he said he tends to be tired by the time the holiday arrives. “I go to my family, but I’m burnt out,” he said. “I celebrate on December 25.”
Until then, ‘tis the season to sell trees and small crafted reindeer and snowmen to those in the spirit for shopping.
