Crown, Prospect Heights Gained 2nd-Most Tree Coverage In BK: Data

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — If Prospect and Crown Heights are looking greener these days than it used to, you aren't imagining things: the neighborhood has had one of the sharpest increases in tree coverage in Brooklyn, and most of the city, in recent years, according to a new study.

The first-of-its-kind report by the Nature Conservancy used three-dimensional imaging technology to map the amount of land covered by overhead tree canopy. It found that between 2010 and 2017, New York's tree coverage grew by more than 3,200 acres, or about 1.7 percent.

Broken down by neighborhood, the second-biggest increase in Brooklyn was in Prospect and Crown Height's Community District 8, whose tree coverage grew by 3.3 percent from 2010 to 2017 — a net gain of 34 acres. The neighborhood had fourth-largest increase citywide.

In Brooklyn, it was beaten only by Bed-Stuy, which had a 3.6 percent gain, or nearly 66 acres, during the time period.

Central Harlem's Community District 10, whose tree coverage grew by 4.2 percent, had the largest gain across the city.

Crown Heights' second Community District 9 — which covers the lower portion of the neighborhood and Prospect Lefferts Gardens — was much lower on the list. Its tree canopy increased by 2.2 percent, or 23 acres, during the time period, according to the study.

Trees play a key role in urban equity, helping to lower temperatures, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and absorb rainwater, researchers told THE CITY, which first reported on the study.

Mapping current tree coverage can help the city protect and improve it in the future — especially in low-income neighborhoods where vegetation is harder to find, they said.

Specific to Brooklyn, the researchers also noted that areas near or next to Prospect Park tended to have higher "stocking rates," or the number of trees compared to the neighborhood's capacity.

Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, Park Slope's Community District 6 and Community District 8 had some of the highest "stocking rates" in the borough. In Community District 6, which includes Gowanus and Red Hook, the rate was highest at almost 82 percent, the study shows.

Not all neighborhoods were as fortunate. Waterfront areas of Southern Brooklyn and Queens, like Coney Island, Canarsie and the Rockaways, lost much of their tree canopies during those eight years — likely due to flooding from Superstorm Sandy.

Another notable area that lost trees in that span: Central Park, which experienced a 2.9 percent drop in its canopy coverage, amounting to a net loss of 25 acres.

A spokesperson for the Central Park Conservancy told Patch that the loss could be attributed to extreme weather and invasive species.

Read the full "Future Forest NYC" study at the Nature Conservancy website.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.