Getting to a million of anything seems daunting, but if anyone can plant a million trees, it’s New Yorkers! It will take a lot of hard work - and a lot of outdoor fun - but we plan to achieve this goal in the next decade. The City will plant 60% of trees along streets, in parks, and in other public spaces. The other 40% will come from homeowners, the business community, and non-profit organizations.  

So where will New Yorkers plant one million new trees?

Business districts
Greenery and landscaping can  bring more business—customers stay longer, have a more pleasant shopping experience, and spend more money. Whether planted in atriums, along sidewalks and walkways, or on balconies and green rooftops, trees benefit business districts commercially and in terms of property values and leasing rates.

Co-ops and condos
Co-op and condo boards can leverage their collective power to undertake significant beautification and street-planting efforts, in front of their immediate properties and along their respective blocks.

Hospitals, community health centers, and other health care facilities
As centers for healing, hospitals, clinics, and community health facilities have an extra incentive to be as comfortable as possible—studies show that trees contribute to a sense of community well-being.

Libraries, museums, faith-based institutions, and other civic land
NYC’s thousands of beautiful public buildings are typically encircled or bordered by gardens and other public open spaces. Tree-planting can be incorporated into these public open spaces – which surround our libraries, museums, faith-based institutions, and other sites of public gathering – during renovations and new construction.  

New commercial and residential development
“Green” construction is all the rage in new commercial and residential developments, as designers and contractors race to achieve “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED) certification and compliance. Yet one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to lower the impact of construction and actually improve the environment is to plant trees.

Parks
Over the next decade, the Parks Department will reforest 2,000 acres in parks in every borough, as well as around highways and other City-owned land - deal opportunities to plant new trees and expand the urban forest..

Public housing
Throughout NYC, the public-housing developments of the 1950s, ‘60s, and 70s in some cases created enormous parcels of public open space.  Public housing campuses are in particular need of comprehensive tree-planting and greening.

Rental buildings
Renters have more opportunities to plant and care for trees than they may realize. Building owners are often quite willing to invest in replacing inferior street trees or planting empty tree pits when tenants express an interest and commitment to helping care for the trees.

Single-family homes
Across NYC’s five boroughs, single-family homes and their surrounding property make up a significant portion of the city’s surface area. Whether row houses, brownstones, or stand-alone dwellings, all single family homes provide curbside, lawn, or side-lot opportunities to plant trees.

Street trees and public rights-of-way
With funding from Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC–New York’s long-term plan to create an environmentally sustainable city–the Parks Department will plant more than 200,000 new street trees over the next decade to fully stock every New York City street. Parks will green entire blocks at a time, take individual requests and automatically replace trees after removal.

Please note that trees must be planted in the ground and use of free-standing planters is not encouraged.