Map Every Street Tree — Which is Your Favorite?

Fall is the time to notice the sublime changing colors of the leaves on the trees. Or smell the fallen nuts of a gingko tree that some harvest in parks to eat.  Did you know that there is a great  online map of every street tree in NYC?  Which one do you walk by and admire?  Now you can look it up!

The New York City Street Tree Map brings New York City’s urban forest to your fingertips. Since 2016, you have access to information about every street tree in New York City. Through the website you can learn about the trees that make up our city’s urban forest, mark trees as favorites and share them with your friends, and record and share all of your caretaking and tree stewardship activities.  According to the website:

Our tree map includes every street tree in New York City as mapped by our TreesCount! 2015 volunteers, and is updated daily by our Forestry team. On the map, trees are represented by circles. The size of the circle represents the diameter of the tree, and the color of the circle reflects its species. You are welcome to browse our entire inventory of trees, or to select an individual tree for more information.

The map only shows trees that grow on land under the jurisdiction of NYC Parks. This includes trees planted along sidewalks or other public rights-of-way. You might not see trees that are planted on rights-of-way maintained by the NYC Department of Transportation, or by the state or federal government. You will also not see trees planted on private property.

One tree not on the map is my favorite,  the beautifully gnarly vine in front of 20 Christopher Street, now home to Delice & Sarrasin a French vegan bistro.

Here it is reaching out to an official tree on the map ID Number 1413495, a Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, with a trunk diameter of 9 inches.

The tree map also gives a breakdown of the environmental benefits of each tree, from the amount of stormwater captured to the air pollutants removed each year.  This tree intercepted 959 gallons of stormwater which the city pays to treat and 2 pounds of air pollutants from the environment.

According to the tree map there are 3,799 trees in the West Village and 1,520 trees in the East Village.  Among the street trees on East 11th Street in front of our office is a Ginkgo biloba with a trunk diameter of 14 inches.

What and where is your favorite street tree?