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.