Bronx Times: Your neighborhood, your newsBronx Times: Your neighborhood, your news
  • Home Pros
  • Jobs
  • News
    • All
    • By Neighborhood
    • Arts
    • Business
    • Coronavirus
    • Development
    • Education
    • En Español
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Police & Fire
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Transit
  • Best of
  • Things to Do
    • Local Events
    • Post an Event
    • Business Events
    • Games
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Our Network
    • amNY
    • Bronx Family
    • Brooklyn Paper
    • Brownstoner
    • Caribbean Life
    • Gay City News
    • QNS
  • Digital Editions
  • Print Subscriptions
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
Bronx Times: Your neighborhood, your newsBronx Times: Your neighborhood, your news
  • Home Pros
  • Jobs
  • News
    • All
    • By Neighborhood
    • Arts
    • Business
    • Coronavirus
    • Development
    • Education
    • En Español
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Police & Fire
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Transit
  • Best of
  • Things to Do
    • Local Events
    • Post an Event
    • Business Events
    • Games
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Our Network
    • amNY
    • Bronx Family
    • Brooklyn Paper
    • Brownstoner
    • Caribbean Life
    • Gay City News
    • QNS
  • Digital Editions
  • Print Subscriptions
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
Bronx Times: Your neighborhood, your newsBronx Times: Your neighborhood, your news
  • News
  • All
  • By Neighborhood
  • Arts
  • Business
  • Coronavirus
  • Development
  • Education
  • En Español
  •  
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Police & Fire
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Transit
  • Things to Do
  • Post an Event
  • Business Events
  • Games
  • Our Network
  • amNY
  • Bronx Family
  • Brooklyn Paper
  • Brownstoner
  • Caribbean Life
  • Gay City News
  • QNS
  • Home Pros
  • Jobs
  • Best of
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Digital Editions
  • Print Subscriptions
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
Environment

BP Calls on Adams to fully fund parks department and plant trees in the Bronx

By Sadie Brown Posted on January 20, 2025
Bronxites rallied in September in the South Bronx to plant trees and call attention to the extreme heat vulnerability of the neighborhood.
Bronxites rallied in the South Bronx in September to plant a tree and call attention to the extreme heat in that section of the borough
Courtesy of the Office of the Borough President

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson sent a letter Friday to Mayor Eric Adams urging him to fully fund the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in the 2026 budget and plant more trees.

She is calling for 1% of the city budget to be put aside for parks in the upcoming fiscal year, with a significant amount being dedicated to planting trees—equitably—in the Bronx and across the city. She seeks more trees to increase the city’s canopy, which reduces dangerous heat generated in urban areas.

Gibson said the urgency to increase the city’s tree canopy coverage was at “an all-time high,” particularly in minority neighborhoods. She emphasized that Black New Yorkers are at a disproportionate risk to die of heat-related illness, citing New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene data.

Close

Get the Full Story

News, events, culture and more — delivered to you.
Thank you for subscribing!

“We must do all we can to protect the health and safety of our residents, especially Black and Brown residents in neighborhoods where asthma and diabetes rates are among the highest nationally,” Gibson said in the letter.

The letter illustrated these disparities, drawing attention to areas in the borough that are especially at risk. Even though the Bronx has the largest proportion of parkland in the city, its tree canopy is not distributed evenly across the borough.

Community Boards 1 – 6 in the South Bronx are especially hot and barren with Community Board 1 having only about 14% canopy coverage and Community Board 2 having less than 8%, among the lowest coverage areas in the city and much lower that the 22% average across the five boroughs. The NYC interactive Heat Vulnerability Index showed that neighborhoods within South Bronx Community Boards ranked the most at risk for heat-related deaths.

Gibson’s letter echoed calls from Bronx community organizations back in September who rallied for more trees. They held a press conference on the waterfront in Mott Haven where they planted a tree to call attention to poor canopy coverage in the South Bronx and its negative impact on the health of residents.

The Adams administration committed to increasing the city’s canopy coverage – which is currently around 22% – up to 30% and has increased tree plantings the last three years with over 15,000 planted in fiscal year 2024. However, the parks budget was cut in the most recent year.

Gibson wants the department to be fully funded and the administration to double down on its effort to provide a green canopy in the Bronx and elsewhere in order to reduce temperatures in the hottest neighborhoods.

Increasing tree coverage in urban areas is linked to reducing surface temperatures, improved air and water quality, mental health benefits, and biodiversity benefits, according to studies published by the National Institutes for Health.

To see how tree coverage impacts Bronx neighborhoods, check out the city’s interactive tree map here.

About the Author

More in Environment

  • Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, and NYC Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa cut the ribbon to officially reopen Strong Street Playground in Kingsbridge Heights following a $3.04 million renovation. Bronx playground gets major makeover with $3M investment
  • A modular Portland Loo restroom is delivered to Hoyt Playground in Queens, one of five installed across the city as part of a pilot program to expand public bathroom accessMillion dollar potties: Five new modular restrooms open in NYC parks topped $1 million each to install
  • family Letter to the editor: A family-friendly city must be a parks-friendly city
  • clean Bronx residents unite for cleaner streets

Jobs in New York

Add your job

  • MDG Design & Construction LLCM/WBE Job Opportunity
  • Hahn's Old Fashioned Cake CompanySE BUSCA AYUDA EN PANADERÍA
  • Auburndale ChiropracticFront Desk/Receptionist

View all jobs…

Crime

  • Police at crime scene in Queens77-year-old Bronx woman found murdered, husband questioned
  • shooting Bronx shooting leaves man critical after bullet passes from neck to head: sources
  • mother ‘She was more than how she died’: Bronx mother mourned after brutal killing
  • raid Authorities raid luxury Mott Haven apartment, seize cannabis, cash, and fireworks
  • deed theft Retired NYPD detective, nurse, and attorney indicted in Bronx deed theft case, AG says

Things to do in the Bronx

Post an Event

You’ve seen the paintings, now see them
Today, 10 am

Van Gogh’s Flowers
New York Botanical Garden

7-day advanced booking required. Every T
Today, 11 am

Afternoon Tea
Wave Hill

This event will take place in person at
Today, 11 am

Little Movers
Woodstock Library

Join us for songs, rhymes, and your favo
Today, 11:30 am

Storytime in the Park!
Aqueduct Lands Playground

This event will take place outdoors at H
Today, 2 pm

Get Your Craft Together: Sidewalk Chalk
Hunts Point Library

Explore your world through the medium of
Today, 3 pm

Teen Unwind: Watercolor Your World!
City Island Library

View All Events…

News

  • Police at crime scene in Queens77-year-old Bronx woman found murdered, husband questioned
  • mother ‘She was more than how she died’: Bronx mother mourned after brutal killing
  • raid Authorities raid luxury Mott Haven apartment, seize cannabis, cash, and fireworks
  • deed theft Retired NYPD detective, nurse, and attorney indicted in Bronx deed theft case, AG says
  • RMA 1698-25 Assault 49 Pct 07-06-25 Photo 2Police hunt for gunman who shattered man’s femur during Bronx July 4 cookout

Things to do in the Bronx

Home Pros

More from Around NYC

Summer Isn’t a Break for Working Parents: Here’s What to Do About It
New York Family

Summer Isn’t a Break for Working Parents: Here’s What to Do About It

Police at crime scene in Queens
amNY

77-year-old Bronx woman found murdered, husband questioned

Hanks10Close2
Schneps Podcasts

EA Hanks, Thank You For Coming Out

Outside of The Monster in Greenwich Village.
Gay City News

Man allegedly brandishes knife, defaces Pride sign in Greenwich Village: NYPD

  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Networking Events
  • Home Pros
  • Advertise
  • © 2025 Schneps Media
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Sections
  • Jobs
  • Home Pros
  • Events
  • Contact