| Contact: | Sunny Mindel / Lynn Rasic (212) 788-2958 Mitali Banerjee (Parks) (212) 360-1311 Peter Fenty/ Kathy Dawkins (Sanitation) (212) 788-3917 |
"For the fifth holiday season in a row, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to bring their Christmas trees out to MulchFest 2001," Mayor Giuliani said. "MulchFest utilizes the City's existing equipment to turn used trees into woodchips which help protect living trees in City parks and along City streets. This is a great way to end the holiday season, which we began by decorating our trees and making them look beautiful -- and beginning this Saturday, we'll be able to end the season by helping our parks look beautiful."
"After useful lives of providing beauty and shade, trees can continue to serve us instead of ending up in a landfill, " Commissioner Stern said.
Commissioner Farrell reminded New Yorkers that the Sanitation Department began their curbside collection of Christmas trees yesterday, and that collections would continue until Saturday, January 20, 2001. Last year, the Department collected and composted more than 2,500 tons of Christmas trees and wreaths. The compost is distributed to parks, ball fields and community gardens.
Tree recycling creates byproducts which are beneficial to the environment. The immediate byproduct, wood chips, can be used to line tree pits along streets and in parks, and to mark trails in large parks. The chips insulate the soil around the base of the tree, reduce soil compaction, increase moisture and prevent salt-shock. Wood chips can also be used in homes and gardens to enrich soil and control weeds. Chips which are placed into piles and treated become mulch. Mulch is a nutrient-rich organic compound that Parks' Natural Resources Group (NRG) uses for many of its park restoration projects.
In addition, the Parks Department and the Sanitation Department operate a leaf
composting program Citywide which reduces the City's waste stream by up to 7,000
tons each year. This fall, leaves were brought to Canarsie Park in Brooklyn,
Soundview Park in the Bronx, and Idlewild Park in Queens. These leaf piles will
be cleaned and treated and turned into rich and valuable soil for use in parks
Citywide. Efforts such as these will also help ensure that the City meets its
goal of closing the Fresh Kills Landfill by the end of this year.
MulchFest 2001 will take place on Saturday, January 6, 2001, from 10 am to 3
pm, at the following locations:
| The Bronx | Crotona Park | Charlotte Avenue and Crotona Park East |
| Brooklyn | Prospect Park | Prospect Park West at 3rd Street |
| Manhattan | Tompkins Square Park Riverside Park |
10th Street and Avenue A 107th and Riverside Drive (10am to 1pm) |
| Queens | Cunningham Park | Francis Lewis Blvd. & Union Tpk. |
| Staten Island | Victory Nursery | Victory Blvd. off of Travis Avenue |
And on Sunday, January 7, 2001, from 10 am to 1 PM, at:
| Manhattan | Riverside Park | 83rd Street and Riverside Drive |
MulchFest Pointers:
· Wood chips are the immediate product. Chipped wood, bark and needles
can be spread around trees in parks and in tree pits along city streets.
· Left over chips are then composted and become "mulch," which
will be used for restoration projects in parks instead of being carted to landfills.
· Bring a bag along if you want to grab some wood chips or fir boughs,
which make great liners for tree pits and gardens.
· Before you bring the tree, clear its branches of all decorations and
tinsel.
For more information about MulchFest, please call (800) 201-PARK.