The UES Has More Street Trees Than Most NYC Neighborhoods: Study

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Upper East Side may be lacking when it comes to open green spaces such as parks, but there's no denying the neighborhood's surplus of tree-lined blocks.

The Upper East Side's blocks are the fifth woodiest in the city with 5,056 trees per square mile, according to a new study from Localize.city. A high density of street trees make neighborhoods healthier for their residents and provide vital services such as cooling air and absorbing rainwater, according to the study.

The data analysts at Localize.city did not include trees in front yards, parks or actual forested areas for the study.

"Street trees not only offer us a respite from the midday sun and make the sidewalks more beautiful, but their presence has proven to be good for our health," Dan Levine, an urban planner at Localize.city, said in a statement. "New York City has lots of homes on tree-lined blocks. At Localize.city, we help New Yorkers find these homes by providing a filter for ‘tranquil streets’ that directs home hunters to the listings on leafy, quiet blocks."

Ahead of the Upper East Side in Localize.city's rankings are: Cobble Hill (5,783 trees per square mile), Floral Park (5,703), Park Slope (5197) and the West Village (5,102). Brooklyn is the borough with the most neighborhoods in the top 10 with five, Manhattan follows close behind with four and Queens has one neighborhood on the list.

Carroll Gardens is the most expensive with a median listing price of $2.25 million, while Ditmas Park is the cheapest with a price of $580,000, the study found.

No Bronx neighborhoods landed in the top 10, but the borough's leafiest neighborhood, the aptly named Tremont, ranked 20th overall, Localize.city says. Staten Island was not included in the ranking as many trees there are planted in front lawns, according to the website.

There are more than 694,000 street trees across the five boroughs, according to the city's Parks Department, which plants them for freeat the request of property owners. The London Planetree is the most common of the 234 tree species that make up the city's urban forest, the department says.

Here are New York City's top 10 tree-lined neighborhoods, according to Localize.city.

1. Cobble Hill — 5,783 trees per square mile
2. Floral Park — 5,703 trees per square mile
3. Park Slope — 5,197 trees per square mile
4. West Village — 5,102 trees per square mile
5. Upper East Side — 5,056 trees per square mile
6. Carroll Gardens — 5,012 trees per square mile
7. Boerum Hill — 4,991 trees per square mile
8. Gramercy — 4,687 trees per square mile
9. Ditmas Park — 4,507 trees per square mile
10. Upper West Side — 4,502 trees per square mile

Patch editor Noah Manskar contributed to this report.