Res 0364-2024

Whereas, According to a 2021 report by The Nature Conservancy, the presence of trees in an urban environment provides benefits such as filtering air pollution, reducing flooding, cooling neighborhoods, and improving local respiratory health; and Whereas, The Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks) design and planning guidelines for flood resiliency call for planting new trees as part of preventing inundation from tidal flooding and future sea rise; and Whereas, New York City has prioritized expanding the population of trees in the city with initiatives such as MillionTreesNYC; and Whereas, Local laws and regulations around construction sites in New York City require developers to protect existing trees during construction or replace trees damaged during construction; and Whereas, Developers are not required to add new trees to development sites where they did not exist before; and Whereas, In 2022 NYC Parks testified at a City Council hearing that the cost of planting trees is $3,600 per tree; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the State Legislature to introduce and pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation that would establish a tax incentive program to encourage developers to plant new trees in development sites. MJT LS # 10328 2/14/2024, 3:31pm