Every Tree in New York City, Mapped

New York City’s urban canopy may be losing its leaves, but it’s gaining an opportunity to make some new friends: The NYC Parks Department has its latest tree census out, and includes an encyclopedic interactive guide to help citizens find their way through its forest of data.

For more than a year, some 2,300 volunteers helped park officials survey more than 685,000 street trees across all five boroughs, gathering stats on species, bark health, trunk width, latitude and longitude, and—this was new—GPS coordinates for every one. “We’ve got excellent data at the core of this project,” says Jennifer Greenfeld, the park department’s assistant commissioner for forestry, horticulture, and natural resources. These extra-fine-grain details will help the parks department focus its maintenance work as they send out specialists to tend to overgrown or sickly trees, she says.