They protect their trees here rather like our local bodies in New Zealand do but the pohutukawa are running out of friends, according to one local admirer, Dr Laurence Costello, an environmental horticulture adviser to the University of California for many years (now retired) and a private consultant.
"They are regarded as a mistake now," said Dr Costello. "But the city is pretty much existing with the status quo - typically, just fixing the infrastructure as the damage gets caused. They will just wait until they die out."
They might have a long wait for the pohutukawa to relax their grip. The trees can live for hundreds of years, although an intensely urban environment is likely to shorten their lives.
Dr Costello said: "They are just not a street tree, that's all. It was the wrong choice. Everyone likes the tree and I think they're great - but they have such a strong root mass that they cause a lot of trouble in an urban setting.
"I was lucky enough to be in New Zealand a while back and saw them growing in their natural state in beaches, parks and along the coast."
It's good to know that, if Team NZ take the America's Cup, something of New Zealand will be left behind.