We’re talking about tree cover.
Trees beautify the city, support wildlife, improve air quality, and provide critical protection from hot weather, especially during those relentless heat waves that seem to have become all too frequent in recent summers.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pledged to greenify the city as part of his administration’s climate and environmental justice agenda. Health experts say tree cover is a key way to do it in city environments.
The urban forest plan, a first-ever for the five boroughs, lays out a plan to achieve 30 percent tree canopy by 2024. Right now, the urban tree canopy shades less than a quarter of the city.
Some boroughs are shadier than others.
Here’s the breakdown from the urban forest plan report:
Canopy cover NYC-wide and by borough, 2021
- Staten Island, 33.1%
- The Bronx, 26.7%
- Citywide, 23.4%
- Manhattan, 22.7%
- Queens, 19.5%
- Brooklyn, 19.5%
Citywide, the numbers for each borough have been going up, compared with 2017 and 2010 data.
Expanding tree canopy remains a core component of the city’s environmental justice efforts.
According to Mamdani’s administration, “An equitably distributed and ecologically diverse urban forest in New York City will cool neighborhoods, help manage stormwater, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase habitat for wildlife, and enhance the health of, and quality of life for, all New Yorkers. ”
“At the core of the UFP is the City’s commitment to addressing unequal distribution of tree canopy as a critical matter of racial and environmental justice,” the announcement continued. “Environmental Justice communities have approximately 19% canopy cover, compared to 26% in non-Environmental Justice areas.
According to NYC data, more than 500 New Yorkers, on average, die prematurely because of hot weather in New York City. In the most recent five-year period, an estimated 525 people died due at least in part to the heat.
That number accounts for about 3% of all NYC deaths from May through September, according to the city.
Only about 1% of those estimated 525 deaths are directly caused by heat, city data shows. The rest are cases in which heat aggravated an underlying illness. Get the full report on NYC’s urban forest plan here.
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