When Scaffolding Hands Them Lemons, Developers Make Lemon Trees

Under billowing, cloudlike fabric stretching the length of a football field, fake lemon trees with purple-and-blue trunks sprout from AstroTurf. Lemon slices the size of cafe tabletops are scattered about like oversize stone pavers, and knee-high plants bear halves of the citrus fruit cast in fiberglass resin.

This Seussian wonder has a name: Citrovia. It has its own custom scent and special lighting effects. And, not surprisingly, it has its own hashtag.

The extravaganza could be a theme-park attraction. Instead, it’s part of an active construction site on a gritty stretch in Midtown Manhattan.