75 Trees Planted In Prospect Park This Fall To Honor Loved Ones

Zainab Iqbal -
Planting a commemorative tree near the Parkside + Ocean Avenue entrance, next to a tree felled by Hurricane Isaias. (Photo via Prospect Park Alliance)

PROSPECT PARK – A record-breaking 75 trees were planted to honor loved ones this season in Prospect Park, raising $150,000 for sustaining the Park in the process.

The tree-planting season in NYC is in the fall and spring, and on average, the Prospect Park Alliance plants 30 to 40 trees per season, a spokesperson for the Alliance told us. It is possible the 75 trees could have been planted in memory of someone who died from COVID-19, however, the Prospect Alliance could not confirm because of the privacy agreements surrounding the donors.

Anyone can purchase and plant a new tree in Prospect Park in honor of a loved one or for a special occasion. The money, which can cost thousands of dollars depending on the tree and package, will work toward replacing lost trees and ensuring the ecological health of the park.

“Brooklyn’s Backyard was hit hard this year by Hurricane Isaias, which felled over 60 trees and left 54 more with severe damage,” Sue Donoghue, the president at Prospect Park Alliance said. “Our commemorative tree program is an important way that the community gives back to our park, and many of these trees were planted in areas impacted by the storm.”

The Prospect Park Alliance also received a large grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to survey the park’s 30,000 trees to shed light on Brooklyn’s quality of life and to create a forest management plan.

Through the collected data, and using the U.S. Forest Service’s iTree ECO Report, the Prospect Park Alliance discovered that the surveyed trees provide more than $2 million in annual environmental benefits:

  • Remove 21,000 pounds of pollutants from the air each year
  • Remove 3,000 tons of greenhouse gases from the air each year
  • Save 1,300-megawatt-hours of energy consumption each year
  • Save 22 million gallons of stormwater runoff from the city sewer system each year

Over the last 30 years, roughly 1,100 trees have been planted through the Prospect Park Alliance tree program. To honor and celebrate a loved one and to plant a tree, you can reach out here for more information on how to get started.