Secrets of the Christmas Tree Trade

Turf wars. Protection money. Scientology. A man who’s half-convinced he really is Santa. Owen Long reports on the secrets of the Christmas tree trade, in partnership with epic

“Why do you want to sell Christmas trees, Owen?” the voice asked, suddenly serene. That’s when I realized that this was Greg, the man behind the Craigslist ad I had answered the previous day seeking workers for a sidewalk stand. I sat up in bed and thought about the question.“Never mind,” Greg said. “I take that back. It is fun. It’s very fun. How would you like to be my assistant?” Greg is a strange combination of impulsive and indecisive, as I’d soon learn.

Two days later, Greg and I sat in his living room, eating Chinese food and watching a documentary about the. Greg’s house is extremely narrow and bursting, most of the year, with Christmas miscellany. There’s mistletoe everywhere, red ribbon dangling from the furniture, stuffed elves lying lifeless all over the floor.’s flimsy exterior. He held out a miniature plastic Santa straddling a choo choo train like a motorcycle. I said I didn’t think I would pay for it, honestly.

“His secret was he just lied to them,” Greg says. “He made things up. He said he grew the trees himself on a mountaintop, chopped them down with a hatchet, and carried them home on a mule. People loved it. And on every single person, he used the same line. ‘I hope this is the very best Christmas you’ve ever had.’ He said it real sincere. It was disgusting to witness. But what are we really selling here? Happiness, right? So, in that sense, they got a great deal.

Even after the switch to electric lightbulbs, tree fires continued. It was still such a problem by 1953 that when a novelty fire-extinguishing ornament was found to emit phosgene, a gas used in chemical warfare, the devices weren’t banned. New Yorkers simply learned to live with the risk of tragedy. Even today, people ask how to stop their tree from igniting. I never know what to tell them. “Just don’t set it on fire,” I say, “and you should be fine.

Trees arrive almost every night for the first week of the season until the stands are totally stocked. Each tractor-trailer needs to stop at several of Greg’s locations, which means following them along Brooklyn’s empty streets in a small fleet of cargo vans. Guys toss wreaths and a few trees in the back and nap on them in between stops, trying to rest up for the hard days ahead.

Nash’s farmer answered and said he could spare 400 firs. The kid said that would do and that he wanted Nash to deliver them. Nash hadn’t planned on more trucking, but there was something about the kid that made him agree. Nash couldn’t possibly have known that the kid would go on to revolutionize the Christmas-tree business and rule the industry for decades, that his name would be spoken in whispers, that his every action would be the subject of myth and rumor. The two men shook hands.

It’s cash only. The money is collected each day by a person who pulls up in a black SUV unannounced. At no point does anyone utter the name “Kevin Hammer.” Sellers discover their employer’s identity, if they discover it at all, through the grapevine chatter of veteran tree men. Performance is assessed by a rotating cast of supervisors, whom sellers suspect use aliases and who enforce a comprehensive system of deductions for work infractions. Sit down: minus $20. Go for a walk: minus $50.

Panicking, I covered the gun with stuffed snowmen and roped the area off with red ribbon. When the police arrived, an officer picked up the gun with two fingers and requested a box. I asked how big.It can be soothing to watch winter settle over New York from a single street corner. Day after day, the same people walk by, pushing the same strollers, pulling the same dogs, shouting the same obscenities.

Recently, they have reached a détente. This kind of alliance, rivalry, and wary coexistence is common among tree men. The big names have all known one another for years or once worked for each other, and among them there is a delicate balance. They are like a dysfunctional family, harboring and overcoming grudges, in direct competition but united by a shared purpose.

The next year — on November 2, 1994, at 3:15 p.m. — two men burst into Walker’s office while he and his secretary, Dirceline Delgado, prepared for the season. Walker was chatting on the phone with Donna when the men entered. One man seized Delgado, holding her down. The other tossed Walker from his desk onto a frayed brown couch. He put a gun to Walker’s left temple. At home in Tallahassee, Donna heard shouts and screams, then her husband saying, “This is it.” A single gunshot followed.

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