The huge, ancient gingko trees surrounding the temple, splendid and full in summertime, were h't up like Roman candles.

In front of the Hall of Ten Thousand Flowers grows a 400-year-old gingko tree.

Mountain laurels more than 15 feet high and 100-year-old gingko trees abound on the 15 acres retained as the Stevens estate "yard."

In subtle ways, this city, with its glistening canals, wide thoroughfares lined with yellowing gingko trees and its bustling crowds of shoppers, even feels different from Tokyo.

But the big board wasn't there any more, or the miles of microtape records, or the potted gingko tree in the lounge: all melted down to slag.

The park containers Chinese-influenced gardens that include gingko trees and bamboo.

A gust of wind blew up the canyon, quivering the ruffled leaves of the gingko trees.

To continue across the East River is to end up in Brooklyn Heights with its serenity of 19th-century brownstones and streets lined with gingko trees.

Mr. Balsley has redesigned the median with seating, planters and gingko trees; an amiable extension of the rather forbidding public space around the Bronx County Building on 161st Street.

And the corner park, with its Modernist curved seats and gingko trees so full of golden leaves this fall, offers a rare moment of solitude and repose.