Newsroom: Press Releases

NYC MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AND BETTE MIDLER PLANT TREE ONE - THE FIRST OF ONE MILLION TREES - AND LAUNCH MILLIONTREESNYC

Today New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Founder Bette Midler launched the MillionTreesNYC initiative to plant and care for one million trees throughout the City’s five boroughs in the next decade. The Mayor and Ms. Midler planted a street tree in the Morrisania section of the Bronx – a neighborhood with too few trees and high rates of asthma – and declared the Carolina Silverbell to be the first of one million trees.

Through a mix of public and private plantings, MillionTreesNYC, an important initiative of PlaNYC, will expand New York City’s urban forest by 20%. All New Yorkers will share in the many benefits that come from planting trees – more beautiful neighborhoods and parks; cleaner air and water; higher property values; energy savings; cooler summer streets, yards, and public open spaces; and a healthier, more environmentally sustainable City. MillionTreesNYC will get New Yorkers involved in the planting and caring of trees for the next decade.

Mayor Bloomberg and Bette Midler were joined at the announcement by First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, City Planning Director Amanda M. Burden, Director of the Mayor’s Office for Long-term Planning and Sustainability Rohit T. Aggarwala, United States Forest Service Abigail Kimbel and The Home Depot Foundation President Kelly Caffarelli.

 “New York City has always been a place of big dreams and big ideas – and our Administration has never been afraid to embrace them,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Over the next decade, with our friends at the New York Restoration Project, we are going to plant an unprecedented one million new trees across the City. PlaNYC is our plan to make New York a greener, greater city and Million Trees NYC is a key part in that effort. This is an ambitious goal and to achieve it we’re going to need the help of the entire City; I’m encouraging all New Yorkers to get involved.”

 “I urge every New Yorker to dig in and be a part of Million Trees NYC,” said NYRP Founder Bette Midler. “It’s the responsibility of  our city’s corporations and foundations, developers, block associations, policymakers, home owners and renters – all New Yorkers – to create a million living, growing legacies that will enhance our beloved city and sustain the world for generations to come. To walk under the branches of a tree that you have planted connects you to the roots of our past and the aspirations of our future.”

The Parks Department will receive nearly $400 million over the next ten years to plant 600,000 public trees by reforesting 2,000 acres of existing parkland and lining New York City streets with trees. The City’s partners, including non-profit and community organizations, businesses, developers and everyday New Yorkers will plant the remaining 400,000 trees.

“Planting a million trees will make a noticeable difference around New York City,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Trees make neighborhoods more livable and increase property values, cool and clean the air, shelter and feed wildlife. The comforting shade of trees soothes the senses and returns us to nature, rounding out the rough edges of urban life.”

MillionTreesNYC will seek to leverage every opportunity to plant trees on public land, and the Parks Department and the New York Restoration Project will enlist individuals and organizations throughout the City to plant and maintain trees on privately owned property as well. The Parks Department and NYRP will work with community partners as it assesses tree planting opportunities at places like schoolyards, public housing campuses, health care facilities, business districts, commercial and residential developments, front yards and other private lands. The initiative will include extensive outreach and education for everyone from residential and commercial developers to children.

To support the initiative’s tree planting, stewardship and education programs, NYRP and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City will seek the financial and in-kind support of individuals, corporations and foundations. The Mayor and Ms. Midler announced today that The Home Depot Foundation has made a $1.5 million contribution to support the initiative.