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Urban Forest Plan!

New York City is developing its first Urban Forest Plan! In addition to reducing extreme heat, trees manage stormwater, beautify our streets, and reduce air pollution. The Urban Forest Plan will set a vision for the care, management, and equitable expansion of the urban forest—which includes all the trees on public and private land in New York City—and also for the ways communities can be involved in the future of the urban forest. That’s why your input is so valuable.

We hope you can join us and other community members at the Manhattan Urban Forest Plan Community Kickoff in East Harlem! Thursday, May 15th, 6:00–8:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:30) Thomas Jefferson Recreation Center, 2180 1st Ave, New York, NY 10029

Register now!

Hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, City Parks Foundation/Partnerships for Parks, NYC Parks, Natural Areas Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy, the kick-off is an opportunity to learn about the creation of the Plan, and to share your ideas, experiences, and vision for the future of New York City’s trees.

We hope you will join us and share this event with anyone in your network who you think would be interested. The event is open to the public, but registration is required. Children accompanied by adults are welcome.

For more information about the Urban Forest Plan and opportunities to share your input, contact Urban Forest Program Organizer Nasyah Price at nprice@cityparksfoundation.org.

 

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Update on NYC Parks’ East Side Coastal Resiliency tree planting and related work.  

Much appreciation for all the work:

From: Maecker, Grace (Parks)
Date: Fri, May 9, 2025, 12:06?PM
Subject: NYC Parks ESCR Greening Task Force Update

Good afternoon all,

I hope everyone is well and enjoying this long-awaited Spring. I am writing to provide an update on NYC Parks’ East Side Coastal Resiliency tree planting and related work.

As you all know, we began planting trees for ESCR in the Fall of 2019, with a goal of planting 1,000 trees within community boards 103 and 106. We are proud to say that we have surpassed that goal, with 1,781 tees planted to date. We ensured that every viable planting space within community boards 103 and 106 was planted by the end of 2024. In addition to planting trees, we installed structural soil around a few of those newly planted trees, expanded tree beds around mature trees, and installed tree guards at many of these locations as well.

What we have accomplished:

  • 1,781 trees planted
  • 37 structural soil sites around newly planted trees
  • 48 tree beds expanded around mature trees
  • 925 tree guards installed

The attached maps display all of the trees in CBs 103 and 106, highlighting those that were planted by NYC Parks as part of ESCR (in green). The attached excel lists the work mentioned above.

We are so grateful for all of the input and support the Greening Task Force has provided over the years. While we are officially finished planting under dedicated ESCR contracts, the remaining ESCR tree planting funds have been placed into our planned standard Capital tree planting contracts. At the conclusion of the last dedicated ESCR contract, CBs 103 & 106 are considered fully stocked and therefore future plantings will be take place across eastern Manhattan. We will continue planting across the entire city under our Neighborhood Tree Planting program, where new street trees are planted on a cyclical basis—prioritizing the most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods first. The cycle maps, and more info on the block planting cycles can be found here. https://www.nycgovparks.org/trees/street-tree-planting/neighborhood-tree-planting-program

Some options for other ways to get trees planted are 1) to make a tax-deductible donation to the NY Tree Time to have the work done through that program https://www.nycgovparks.org/trees/tree-care/nyc-parks-tree-time (email: TreeTime@parks.nyc.gov phone: (718) 361-8101), or 2) to apply for a permit to plant a tree https://www.nycgovparks.org/trees/street-tree-planting/permit-directions

 

Moving forward, NYC Parks and Recreation’s Natural Resources – Capital Design & Construction team will be installing green infrastructure within CBs 103 and 106. You can expect an update from their team this Spring.

All the best,

Grace Maecker (she/her)

Senior Forester, Queens Street Tree Planting

Environment and Planning, Tree Planting

 

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