Seeing the park for the trees: New York’s “Million Trees” campaign vs. the deep roots of environmental inequality

Trees provide many environmental benefits, but low-income communities of color tend to have fewer of them. New York City attempted to correct this disparity by planting a million trees via public–private partnership between 2007 and 2015. This paper examines MillionTreesNYC’s environmental justice goals and planting strategies via program documents and interviews with program partners, and assesses equity outcomes via regression analysis of new trees planted, existing tree canopy, park space, and sociodemographic characteristics measured at the level of the census block group. Ultimately, MillionTreesNYC did not prioritize low-income communities of color to a measurable degree, and planted more trees in areas with greater existing tree canopy. Despite public–private partnerships’ reputation for prioritizing profit over equity, the problem was not a lack of commitment to environmental justice. Instead, MillionTreesNYC’s focus on parks, which are themselves inequitably distributed, frustrated the city’s efforts to equalize the urban forest. This paper therefore exposes the deep historical roots of environmental injustice, which are difficult to eradicate without careful attention to both past and present socio-spatial inequities