It’s time to say fir-well!
Locals looking to ditch their past-prime Christmas pines can turn their dead trees into plant food for saplings starting on Jan 4., when the city kicks-off its beloved tree-cycling event at green spaces across the borough.
Environmentalists can haul their trees — sans lights, ornaments, and stars — to one of 23 Brooklyn parks during Mulchfest, where workers will pulverize them with a wood chipper to make mulch used to fertilize green things growing in public spaces across the city, according to the head of the Department of Sanitation, which together with leaders of the Department of Parks and Recreation is staging the recycling program through Jan. 13.
“While Christmas trees are in our homes for only a short period of time, recycling can give them a longer life,” said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. “After collection, the trees are turned into compost to give life to plants in our city’s parks and community gardens.”
And Brooklynites who line up at nine of the local meadows on the second weekend of Mulchfest can walk away with their own bag of all-natural fertilizer, according to the agency.
Residents can also toss their completely naked trees to the curb for collection from Jan. 2–12, said Garcia, who noted that New Yorkers recycled more than 200,000 firs last year.
Chipping locations
Brooklyn Bridge Park (99 Plymouth St. at Adams Street in Dumbo)
Cobble Hill Park (Clinton Street and Verandah Place in Cobble Hill)
Fort Greene Park (Washington Park and Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene)
Maria Hernandez Park (Suydam Street and Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick)
Marine Park (E. 33rd Street and Avenue U in Marine Park)
McCarren Park (Lorimer Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg)
Owl’s Head Park (68th Street and Colonial Road in Bay Ridge)
Prospect Park (Third Street and Prospect Park West in Park Slope)
Prospect Park (Park Circle at Parkside Avenue in Windsor Terrace)
Drop-off only
Amazing Garden (261 Columbia St. at Carroll Street in Cobble Hill)
Brower Park (Brooklyn Avenue at Prospect Place in Crown Heights)
Coffey Park (Dwight and Verona streets in Red Hook)
East NY Farms (622 Schenk Ave. at Livonia Avenue in East New York)
Green Space (222 Fifth Ave. at President Street in Park Slope)
Herbert Von King Park (Marcy Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant)
Linden Park (Linden Boulevard and Vermont Street in East New York)
McGolrick Park (Monitor Street and Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint)
Prospect Park (Lincoln Road and Ocean Avenue in Prospect-Lefferts Garden)
Red Hook Park (Lorraine and Henry streets in Red Hook)
St. John’s Recreation Center (Bergen Street between Troy and Schenectady avenues in Crown Heights)
Sunset Park (44th Street and Sixth Avenue in Sunset Park)
Transmitter Park (Greenpoint Avenue between West Street and the East River in Greenpoint)
Washington Park (Third Street and Fifth Avenue in Fort Greene)
