#milliontreesnyc

I am so excited to be taking the Citizen Pruner Course through Trees NY. Once completed, I will receive a license from the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to legally prune and help care for street trees! 

The trees need us more than ever, especially because there are so many newly planted trees (thanks to the MillionTreesNYC Initiative) that need extra attention in their formative years. 

Why are street trees essential and beneficial for a big city, you ask? Trees enhance the quality of urban life. How?

- Trees add beauty and character - Trees soften the harsh and angular look of city streets - Trees, like all green plants, use carbon dioxide and release life-giving oxygen - Trees help clean air by trapping dirt, grit and dust, and by absorbing other pollutants  - Trees act as sound barriers - Trees reduce stormwater runoff from city streets, reducing the pollution of our local waterways - Trees screen unpleasant views - Carefully located, trees deciduous trees can save energy by cooling buildings in the summer and allowing solar heating in the winter - Trees increase community pride - Tees are important representatives of nature to city dwellers - Trees are home to wildlife  - Trees can increase the attractiveness of a home and studies have shown that trees can increase property values by up to 20%

(from Citizen Pruner Manual)

New York plante un million d’arbres en 8 ans !

En raison du réchauffement climatique et des microclimats urbains (absence de végétation et l’asphaltage des rues), il fait de plus en plus intenable en ville pendant les périodes de fortes chaleurs.

Pour y remédier, la ville de New York a fait le pari, en 2007, de se lancer dans la plantation d’un million d’arbres supplémentaires. En 2015, l’objectif était déjà atteint ! Grâce notamment à l’intervention de près de 50.000 bénévoles qui ont planté des arbres dans leur jardin, dans les rues, dans les parcs de quartier... (notons que les grands parcs comme Central Park ne sont pas comptabilisés dans le programme).

Résultat la création d’une véritable “Forêt urbaine”.

Parallèlement, NYC a recensé tous ses arbres à haute tige : 684.392 individus avaient été identifiés en décembre 2016. Chacun d’entre eux est localisé précisément sur une carte interactive de la ville et a fait l’objet d’une fiche signalétique propre.

Enfin, la municipalité a réussi à évaluer le bénéfice économique des arbres par individu et par territoires (l’image montre les bénéfices pour Manhattan).

Car les arbres n’ont pas qu’une valeur paysagère. Ils contribuent à réduire la température, à retenir et ralentir les eaux de pluies et ainsi lutter contre les inondations, à fixer le dioxyde de carbone et certains polluants atmosphériques.

La valeur de chacun de ces bénéfices pour la collectivité a été chiffré en $ à l’aide du logiciel itree. Certains individus stratégiquement situés rapportent gros (jusqu’à 500 $ par an, alors que d’autres ne rapporte que 10$). Ce qui permet de dire qu’en moyenne pour un dollar dépensé dans un arbre, le retour est de l’ordre de 5 dollars. Par exemple, le bénéfice annuel de la plantation d’arbres rapporte 8.5 millions$ uniquement pour l’île de Manhattan.

Today was a special day in The Bronx at Joyce Kilmer Park on 161st Street and The Grand Concourse. Local school children gleefully joined residents, elected officials, NYC Parks employees to celebrate the millionth tree which was planted last month at the park as part of the MillionTreesNYC program initiated by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

When the millionth tree was planted last month at the park, it was 2 years ahead of schedule as 2017 was the target date for completion of the project to green up New York City—especially the areas which lacked greenery and green streets such as The South Bronx where the ceremony took place.

The Bronx actually received the 2nd most number of trees with a total of 276,600 adding to the greenest of the five boroughs of New York City. Queens received the highest number of trees but only by a little over 8,000 more trees at 284,755.

Last month’s planting was supposed to have happened with today’s fanfare but the celebration was postponed after NYPD Officer Holder was tragically killed in East Harlem the day before of that planting.

The local school children from PS 35 Franz Siegel School were so excited that when Mayor de Blasio said good morning to the crowd, the children all shouted in unison, “Good morning Mayor de Blasio!”

It was especially nice to see the children get to help plant the 1,017,634th tree at Joyce Kilmer, an American Linden, after Bette Midler, and local elected and city officials did their ceremonial shoveling in for the planting.

School kids from PS 35 Franz Siegel School helped plant the 1,017,634th tree, an American linden, during today’s celebration.

In a press release issued by the mayor’s office, Bette Midler says, “There are now one million more reasons why New York is the greatest city in the world. Nine years ago, planting one million trees was a far-fetched idea. Today, we’ve done the impossible. One million trees means that every single New Yorker has a little more green space in their life. I’ve always loved this city, but I’ve never been more proud to call it home. Tonight, we’re lighting the Empire State Building, New York’s most beloved skyscraper, in forest green to symbolize the city becoming more sustainable and a healthier place for all of its citizens.”

The release goes on to say:

“MillionTreesNYC has not only transformed our City’s green spaces – it has also helped reduce our carbon foot print and made New York more equitable for all New Yorkers, in all five boroughs,” said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “This critically important initiative builds on the Council’s on-going efforts to make our City more sustainable and environmentally friendly and I thank Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor de Blasio and all of our partners for making this program a tremendous success.”

“I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg for helping us build a more resilient, greener city for all New Yorkers. This one millionth tree highlights what New Yorkers can do when we work together for the greater good of our city, and is a strong example of the impact that volunteers are having in and around our communities every day,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Today is a major achievement in this city’s vision for a healthier, more sustainable city, and one that we are carrying forward through OneNYC.”

“We planted tree number one just down the road eight years ago and we’ve added one million more thanks to the dedication of so many: Mayor de Blasio and his team who carried the work through, our founding partner Bette Midler, the New York Restoration Project, dozens of members of our Administration and more than 50,000 volunteers,” said 108th Mayor of New York City Mike Bloomberg. “Each new tree planted makes our city a little more beautiful, the air we breathe a little cleaner, and our carbon footprint a little smaller. MillionTreesNYC was an important part of our comprehensive sustainability plan, which has led to New Yorkers breathing the cleanest air our city has had in 50 years. We worked extremely hard to expand and strengthen our parks, particularly in low-income communities. Seeing tree number one million take root is something we can all be proud of.”

“We are enormously grateful to the thousands of volunteers, sponsors, and partners who donated time, energy, and funding to make MillionTreesNYC so successful,” saidParks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, FAICP. “MillionTreesNYC was an unprecedented initiative in New York City and has become a renowned greening model used internationally. It has led to a host of valuable research regarding urban greening efforts and has transformed acres of parkland and streets into new, ecologically healthy, multi-story forests that provide benefits to all New Yorkers. Through the Mayor’s Community Parks Initiative (CPI), we will continue to make strides in creating an environmentally equitable city, engage New Yorkers in their parks in new and exciting ways, and reimagine our open spaces together.”

To all who made this possible, from local residents and grassroots organizations, to the elected officials who stood behind this, Bette Midler for her vision along with her organization, The New York Restoration Project, and most of all the volunteers and stewards who take care of these trees and have helped plant them, a big thank you is in order.

Who would have thought that such a feat would be possible?

I live in Melrose and our neighborhood has been transformed. Before the first tree was planted in October of 2008, you could go blocks and blocks and only encounter  a handful of trees. Now you can walk by tree-lined streets that go on for blocks on end.

Thanks for sprucing up our borough and city along with our quality of life and health.

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