Over 200 Trees Coming To West Village, District 3 Streets

WEST VILLAGE, NY — The neighborhood is getting greener, thanks to an effort by a local City Council Member to plant 1,000 new trees on the streets of his west side district.

That goal, announced at the end of 2022, might be met sooner than expected.

Council Member Erik Bottcher said late last week that 215 new trees were being planted this spring across the district.

And on top of the 200-plus that he says were planted in the winter, "this puts us well on our way to surpassing out goal of 1,000 new street trees," Bottcher wrote.

Just after Bottcher's 1,000 tree declaration, the Parks Department published a comprehensive tree map of the city's leafy denizens, where New Yorkers can also learn about just how much city dwellers benefit from each tree.

For example, the map says that a southern red oak with a 23-inch trunk on the corner of West 11th and Bleecker streets produces over $320 of annual benefits by intercepting stormwater, helping to conserve energy and removing air pollutants.

This is just one of the over 4,600 trees — and 164 different species — in the West Village, which in total produces over $600,000 in annual benefits. Manhattan's nearly 100,000 trees provide a total annual benefit equal to about $7.9 million.

"With more trees comes cleaner air, more rainwater absorption, more habitat for birds and insects, and more pleasant streetscapes," Bottcher said on social media.

The council member also recently announced the results of District 3's participatory budgeting, where a tree-related project getting the most most votes. Nearly 2,200 people voted to spend $350,000 on expanding street tree beds across the district, which would help capture more storm water runoff and help promote tree health.

One Greenwich Village resident thanked Bottcher on Instagram, adding that they wished the trees had labels to help school kids learn the trees' names.

"For whatever reason," the user wrote, "the trees this year are more beautiful than ever."