The city’s street trees

Every tree along the curb, counted by NYC Parks staff and volunteers in the 2015 census

652,173Living street trees

132Species

81%In good health

31,615Dead or stumps

Your trees

Search an address to meet the trees on the block.

The roster

132 species line the streets, but a dozen make up most of them.

No. 1
London planetree
Platanus x acerifolia
87,014 · 13% of the city’s trees
A hybrid of the American sycamore, planted for shrugging off soot, salt and packed soil. Its leaf is in the NYC Parks logo.
84% in good health · 21.5 in across on average
No. 2
Honeylocust
Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis
64,263 · 10% of the city’s trees
Planted thornless and mostly seedless. Its tiny leaflets cast light, dappled shade and blow away in the fall.
85% in good health · 10.2 in across on average
No. 3
Callery pear
Pyrus calleryana
58,931 · 9% of the city’s trees
First to bloom in spring, with a smell people complain about. The 9/11 Memorial’s Survivor Tree is one.
82% in good health · 8.9 in across on average
No. 4
Pin oak
Quercus palustris
53,185 · 8% of the city’s trees
Named for its short, pin-like twigs. It holds its dead brown leaves into winter.
86% in good health · 16.8 in across on average
No. 5
Norway maple
Acer platanoides
34,189 · 5% of the city’s trees
Planted by the thousand after Dutch elm disease; it now spreads into the city’s woods as an invasive.
62% in good health · 14.3 in across on average
No. 6
Littleleaf linden
Tilia cordata
29,742 · 5% of the city’s trees
Its small yellow flowers scent whole blocks in June, and the bees know it.
79% in good health · 10 in across on average
No. 7
Cherry
Prunus
29,279 · 4% of the city’s trees
Ornamental cherries, mostly Japanese varieties, grown for a week or two of blossom.
84% in good health · 5.7 in across on average
No. 8
Japanese zelkova
Zelkova serrata
29,258 · 4% of the city’s trees
An elm relative planted in place of the American elm: the vase shape without the disease.
86% in good health · 7.8 in across on average
No. 9
Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba
21,024 · 3% of the city’s trees
Unchanged for some 200 million years. Females drop foul-smelling seeds; the leaves go gold and fall almost at once.
82% in good health · 8.6 in across on average
No. 10
Sophora
Styphnolobium japonicum
19,338 · 3% of the city’s trees
The Japanese pagoda tree: creamy flowers in late summer, when little else in the city blooms.
82% in good health · 9.3 in across on average
No. 11
Red maple
Acer rubrum
17,246 · 3% of the city’s trees
Native to New York: red buds in winter, red flowers in spring, red leaves in fall.
78% in good health · 10.7 in across on average
No. 12
Green ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
16,251 · 2% of the city’s trees
Native, and under attack: the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle, has killed millions of ash trees.
81% in good health · 13.6 in across on average

One species at a time

Pick a species and see where it grows. Some are everywhere; some cluster where a neighborhood planted them all at once.

Species Open on the full map

The giants

The widest trunks on the city’s streets, measured at chest height. (The census has typos; trunks no tree of their kind could have are left out.)

72″Silver mapleNew Dorp-Midland Beach
70″Pin oakTodt Hill-Emerson Hill-Heartland Village-Lighthouse Hill
70″Pin oakSpringfield Gardens South-Brookville
70″Silver mapleBaisley Park
68″London planetreeQueensbridge-Ravenswood-Long Island City
68″London planetreeRichmond Hill
67″London planetreeNew Dorp-Midland Beach
67″London planetreeBensonhurst West
66″Northern red oakSpringfield Gardens South-Brookville
66″Pin oakMurray Hill

The rare ones

Species with fewer than fifty street trees in the whole city.

Virginia pine
Pinus virginiana
10
South Jamaica, Ridgewood, East Village and more
Scots pine
Pinus sylvestris
25
Woodhaven, Springfield Gardens South-Brookville
Osage-orange
Maclura pomifera
29
Fort Greene, Ridgewood, Mott Haven-Port Morris
Pitch pine
Pinus rigida
33
East Flushing, Williamsbridge-Olinville, Greenpoint and more
Black pine
Pinus nigra
37
Ridgewood, Park Slope-Gowanus, Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds
American larch
Larix laricina
46
Lenox Hill-Roosevelt Island, Central Harlem South, Astoria
European alder
Alnus glutinosa
47
Longwood, Steinway, Grymes Hill-Clifton-Fox Hills and more

Neighborhood leaderboard

Trees for the ground a neighborhood’s streets cover, how many species, and how healthy. Leafy and bare are both stories about who got planted for.

Rank	Neighborhood	Trees a km²	Species	Good health	Commonest
1	Upper East Side-Carnegie HillManhattan	2,480	73	78%	Callery pear
2	Brooklyn Heights-Cobble HillBrooklyn	2,246	70	77%	London planetree
3	Hamilton HeightsManhattan	2,049	73	79%	Pin oak
4	Upper West SideManhattan	2,035	73	83%	Honeylocust
5	YorkvilleManhattan	1,929	57	71%	Honeylocust
6	Central Harlem SouthManhattan	1,916	71	75%	Honeylocust
7	Arden HeightsStaten Island	1,902	103	82%	Callery pear
8	Lenox Hill-Roosevelt IslandManhattan	1,810	55	65%	Honeylocust
9	West VillageManhattan	1,734	76	73%	Callery pear
10	GramercyManhattan	1,720	39	81%	Honeylocust

Borough report card

How healthy each borough’s street trees are.

Bronx
A
- 83% good
- Good 66603
- Fair 10887
- Poor 3095
80,585 living · 2,530 dead · 2,088 stumps
Brooklyn
B
- 81% good
- Good 138212
- Fair 25073
- Poor 6459
169,744 living · 3,319 dead · 4,230 stumps
Manhattan
D
- 76% good
- Good 47358
- Fair 11460
- Poor 3609
62,427 living · 1,802 dead · 1,194 stumps
Queens
B
- 82% good
- Good 194008
- Fair 34549
- Poor 9417
237,974 living · 4,440 dead · 8,137 stumps
Staten Island
B
- 81% good
- Good 82669
- Fair 14535
- Poor 4238
101,443 living · 1,870 dead · 2,005 stumps

Graded on the share of living trees in good health: A from 82%, B from 80%, C from 77%.

Stump of the year

80 inches across

The widest stump the census measured, in Kensington-Ocean Parkway. Whatever stood there was a giant.

Sidewalk wreckers

Which trees lift the pavement. The census noted, tree by tree, whether the sidewalk next to it was cracked or raised.

Bigger trunks, more cracks

under 6 in15%
6–12 in25%
12–18 in38%
18–24 in42%
24–30 in44%
30+ in48%

29% of the city’s street trees have lifted or cracked the sidewalk next to them. Big old trees do it whatever they are, so the ranking compares each species with trees its size.

For their size

1. Honeylocust36% of 64,250 damage the sidewalk
2. Littleleaf linden31% of 29,733 damage the sidewalk
3. Sophora30% of 19,332 damage the sidewalk
4. Green ash38% of 16,246 damage the sidewalk
5. American linden27% of 13,529 damage the sidewalk

The gentlest for their size: Crab apple (0.68×), Purple-leaf plum (0.72×), Cherry (0.73×). 1× is the city’s rate for trees that size.

The volunteer effect

Census volunteers noted signs that someone looks after a tree, and its guard. Does care keep a tree healthy?

Signs of care

Watering, mulch, flowers…	Trees	Good health	Poor
None	487,823	81%	4%
1 or 2	143,557	80%	4%
3 or 4	19,183	81%	4%
4 or more	1,610	85%	3%

Hardly a difference until the most-tended trees, and there are few of those. People often look after the trees that are struggling, or newly planted, and the census is one snapshot: it can’t tell which came first.

Tree guards

Guard	Trees	Good health	Poor
None	572,306	81%	4%
Helpful	51,866	82%	4%
Unsure	7,748	76%	6%
Harmful	20,252	76%	5%

A guard the census judged harmful (too tight, or digging in) goes with 76% in good health, against 81% with no guard at all.

The city’s street trees

Your trees

The roster

London planetree

Honeylocust

Callery pear

Pin oak

Norway maple

Littleleaf linden

Cherry

Japanese zelkova

Ginkgo

Sophora

Red maple

Green ash

One species at a time

The giants

The rare ones

Virginia pine

Scots pine

Osage-orange

Pitch pine

Black pine

American larch

European alder

Neighborhood leaderboard

Borough report card

Bronx

Brooklyn

Manhattan