By Scott Etkin
Mulchfest, the NYC Parks Department’s annual drive to recycle used Christmas trees, set a new record in 2023: 58,309 trees were collected throughout the city during this year’s event, up from 50,934 in 2022, according to a press release.
But, while more trees were collected across the city in 2023 than ever before, most of the locations on or near the Upper West Side had fewer drop offs than the prior year, a Parks Department spokesperson told the Rag.
| Location | 2022 | 2023 |
| West 123rd Street and Morningside Avenue | 505 trees | 980 trees |
| 106th Street and Central Park West* | 248 trees | 132 trees |
| West 83rd Street and Riverside Drive | 2,835 trees | 1,383 trees |
| 81st Street and Central Park West | 401 trees | 350 trees |
| 65th Street and Central Park West | 272 trees | 122 trees |
Mulchfest has been an annual event for more than two decades. In previous years, the Parks Department has collected between 25,000 and 30,000 on average annually. This year’s Mulchfest ran from December 26th through January 8th.
“New Yorkers have gone above and beyond in their tree-cycling efforts this year and set a new Mulchfest record,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue in a statement. “Here’s to breaking the record again at Mulchfest 2024!”
*Recorded as being at 106th Street and Fifth Avenue in 2022.
The drop-offs this year were very far from one another and not so easy to schlep a tree to if you were more than 5 blocks away.
They used to have a drop off in Riverside Park that was north of 97th st. I’m not sure what happened to it, but it is a shame that they got rid of it. We made sure to put our tree out for curbside recycling, but would have preferred to bring it to the park if the nearest drop off wasn’t a mile away.
Agree! We used to go to that site further north on Riverside Park as well. More drop-off locations would increase participation.
Ditto-I manage a coop where we put upwards of 15 trees out for collection this year. But our closest mulch location was 10+ blocks away. Lacking a dump truck- we would have been relegated to dragging 7ft+ trees 10 blocks. Just don’t have the manpower or time for that task. We compost and recycle virtually everything. Perhaps a traveling tree shredder-like the ones the tree pruners use, would have worked for those of us midway between two composting sites.
Interesting that its lower. This was the first year that I saw unsold trees. 2,835 2022 trees vs 1,383 2023 trees. Maybe there were fewer trees purchased. 1,383 is still the highest of any neighborhood. More than twice as much as any neighborhood.
Mulches uses the mulch in the parks. Great. But trees left on the sidewalks are still turned into mulch. Where does that mulch go? From an environmental POV does it matter who mulches the trees?
I was going to carry my tree to the CP drop off at 65th Street, but when I learned that the Sanitation Department was mulching the trees for NYC parks, I dropped it off on Freedom Place, near Riverside Boulevard, closer to my residence. My understanding was that the Central Park recycled trees were exclusively mulched and distributed for Central Park use. If this information was incorrect, I’m open to updating.
Need one near 72nd Street.
I didn’t give my tree to mulchfest this year (UWS) because I found out that they chip and mulch the trees collected at the curb anyway. I didn’t want to lug it to the collection site when it would be mulched anyway!
We need more dropoff sites! My daughter, who has two little kids and lives at 98th and Riverside, could not schlepp that far to her dropoff point! I know more people will participate if we could add a few more spots. They don’t own a wagon and it was too big to load on top of the stroller!
The NYC Parks Department and the Sanitation Department should coordinate efforts. Then this would be a home run.
LOL – that will be the day…..Sanitation Department can’t even clean the streets let alone pick up the garbage on time! Our garbage was just picked up for the first time this week today (Friday) due to the holiday on Monday and they didn’t bother to pick up on Wednesday…… how does the Sanitation Department explain that? Whatever happened to the new policy of starting to pick up on holidays….. That ended fast Mayor Adams!!!
A lot of people did not buy trees this year, because the cost of the economy and most have traveled to their second homes for Christmas vacation this year.
There should be more than one date or a date that’s later in January. If you celebrate 3 Kings or the Epiphany you still have your tree at home decorated when mulch fest occurred.