The Civic Issue
NYC's urban tree canopy covers 23.4% of the city, short of the 30% goal. The city has 7 million trees (700,000+ street trees). Parks consistently misses its 65,000 trees/year pruning target. Tree root damage to sidewalks is underfunded — creating trip hazards and ADA compliance issues. Climate change increases heat island effects where canopy is sparse, with surface temperatures 10-15°F higher in treeless blocks.
Headline Spending
$37.3M
identifiable in budget
Budget Lines (Adopted)
$37.9M
22 lines
Vendor Spending
$50.6M
12 vendors
| Line | Adopted | Spent |
|---|---|---|
FORESTRY MAINT & OPERATIONS - OTPS | $10.4M | $3.1M |
QUEENS FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $3.4M | $659.4K |
Climber Pruner Apprentice Program MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $3.3M | $1.2M |
Forestry Management MAINT & OPERATIONS - OTPS | $3.0M | $36.4K |
Forestry & Horticulture Direct DESIGN & ENGINEERING | $3.0M | $1.9M |
Forestry & Horticulture Indirect DESIGN & ENGINEERING | $1.7M | $920.6K |
BROOKLYN FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $1.7M | $122.9K |
S I FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $1.6M | $123.1K |
FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $1.5M | $11.7M |
BRONX FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $1.4M | $278.9K |
Croton Forestry Management Program MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $1.4M | $124.2K |
Private Tree Planting MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $1.2M | $632.2K |
MANHATTAN FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $984.3K | $300.6K |
Tree Planting - Indirect DESIGN & ENGINEERING | $514.1K | $325.6K |
Tree Planting OTPS DESIGN & ENGINEERING - OTPS | $475.1K | $232.1K |
Forestry Centralization MAINT & OPERATIONS - OTPS | $411.0K | $195.0K |
Tree Planting - Direct DESIGN & ENGINEERING | $413.4K | $240.2K |
Forestry Debris Crew MAINT & OPERATIONS - OTPS | $290.4K | $0 |
Forestry Management Project MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $0 | $390.2K |
Inflation Reduction Act NYC Forested NAC MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS + OTPS | $0 | $558.3K |
TREE TRUST MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $0 | $244.4K |
Sidewalks MAINT & OPERATIONS - OTPS | $1.3M | $10.4K |
| TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND | $9.6M | 2 txns |
| STEVEN DUBNER LANDSCAPING | $8.9M | 40 txns |
| DRAGONETTI BROTHERS LANDSCAPING | $7.8M | 40 txns |
| GRIFFINS LANDSCAPING CORP | $6.8M | 29 txns |
| J PIZZIRUSSO LANDSCAPING CORP | $4.8M | 32 txns |
| ANTONIO NATALE LANDSCAPING INC | $4.6M | 27 txns |
| HTC LANDSCAPING INC | $3.9M | 22 txns |
| BEUCLER TREE EXPERTS LLC | $1.2M | 18 txns |
| FAMILY TREE SERVICE, INC. | $1.2M | 5 txns |
| DUJETS TREE EXPERTS INC | $1.0M | 15 txns |
| ALMSTEAD TREE & SHRUB CARE CO. | $386.5K | 20 txns |
| PAUL BUNYON TREE CARE, INC. | $314.6K | 4 txns |
Total Identifiable Spending
$37.3M adopted in forestry/tree/horticulture budget lines + $2.1M in Inflation Reduction Act federal grants (modified) — within Parks' $687.6M total budget (5.4% of agency budget)
Parks' forestry and horticulture operations total $37.3M adopted across 20+ named budget lines, representing 5.4% of Parks' $687.6M total budget. The main "FORESTRY" OTPS line ($10.4M) grew 21% mid-year to $12.6M — the largest forestry line increase. Borough forestry lines (Queens $3.4M, Brooklyn $1.7M, Staten Island $1.6M, Bronx $1.4M, Manhattan $984K) show relatively even distribution, with Queens getting the most. The Climber Pruner Apprentice Program ($3.3M) is a workforce pipeline for the 1,584 Climber & Pruners ($78.3K avg salary) and 1,172 Foresters ($77.4K avg) who maintain the city's trees. The "FORESTRY & HORTICULTURE" line under M&O has an unusually high cash expense ($11.7M) vs. its $1.5M adopted — likely catching overflow from other forestry activities. Private Tree Planting ($1.2M) funds tree planting on private property. Design & Engineering's forestry lines ($4.7M PS + $557K OTPS) handle planting design and supervision for new street trees.
Capital tree planting is funded separately through capital budget (400-846-XXX department codes in spending) — Parks has $487M in capital spending with no project-level attribution. The MillionTreesNYC successor programs, DEP's tree credit program (trees that reduce stormwater), and DDC-managed park construction that includes tree planting are all outside the direct forestry budget. The Inflation Reduction Act federal grants ($2.1M modified) represent new federal money for urban forest management — natural capital accounting is a new federal priority. Sidewalk repair related to tree root damage ($1.3M adopted, cut to $816K modified, only $10K spent) is dramatically underfunded relative to the tens of thousands of damaged sidewalks.
Key Context
NYC's 30% canopy goal was set as part of PlaNYC. The current 23.4% canopy is measured via satellite. Parks must prune each of the city's 700,000+ street trees on a ~7-year cycle (65,000/year), but consistently falls short. Emergency tree services contracts (Dragonetti Brothers alone has $28.2M across 4 contracts) consume a large share of the forestry budget — storm damage response competes with proactive pruning. The Sidewalks line ($1.3M adopted, $10K spent) illustrates the gap between tree maintenance and infrastructure repair caused by trees: root heave damages thousands of sidewalks annually, creating liability and ADA issues, but the repair budget is negligible. The 130 Administrative Horticulturists ($169.8K avg salary) and 735 non-managerial Administrative Horticulturists ($101.4K avg) represent the professional workforce behind canopy management planning.