You are reading

Turn Your Christmas Tree into Mulch at City’s Annual Mulchfest Starting Sunday

Residents can bring their Christmas trees to city parks and gardens to be turned into mulch during the annual Mulchfest. Pictured at the 2018 event in Long Island City is Rob Basch, president of the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy (Photo provided by the HPPC)

Dec. 23, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

The city’s annual Mulchfest is back for another year, giving residents a chance to dispose of their Christmas trees in an eco-friendly way.

Residents can bring their Christmas trees to a select number of city parks to be turned into mulch during the annual Mulchfest. This year’s event will take place from Dec. 26 through Jan. 9, with drop-off locations throughout the five boroughs.

New Yorkers can drop off their trees at any of the locations for free to later be chipped and turned to mulch. Residents must remove all lights, ornaments and netting from the trees before bringing them to a Mulchfest site.

The mulch created by the trees will be used by the city in public parks and gardens to help trees and plants grow. Mulch adds nutrients to the soil, deters weeds, retains moisture and keeps roots warm.

Attendees can also get to watch their tree go through the chipper machine at designated sites from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 8 and Jan 9. Visitors can also take home a free bag of mulch.

Nearly 50,000 trees were recycled during last year’s Mulchfest. The annual event is run by the Parks Dept. and the Dept. of Sanitation.

Drop off locations and chipping sites

Astoria Park located at 19th Street and Hoyt Avenue
Cunningham Park located at 196th Place and Union Turnpike
Forest Park located at Forest Park Drive and Woodhaven Boulevard
Francis Lewis Park located at 3rd Avenue and Whitestone Expressway
Hunters Point South Park located at 51st Avenue and Center Boulevard
Idlewild Park located at Springfield Lane and 149th Avenue
Juniper Valley Park located at 80th Street between Juniper Boulevard North and South
Travers Park located at 78th Street and 34th Avenue

Drop-off location only
Captain Mario Fajardo Playground located at Kissena Boulevard at Booth Memorial Avenue*
John Golden Park located at 215th Place and 33rd Avenue
Queens County Farm Museum located at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway
Queensbridge Park located at Vernon Boulevard and Queensbridge Park Greenway
Rockaway Beach located at 94th Street and Shorefront Parkway
Roy Wilkins Park located at the park entrance at Merrick Boulevard and Foch Boulevard
Windmill Community Garden located at 39-22 29th St.
Windmuller Park at Lawrence Virgilio Playground located at 39th Drive and 54th Street

For more information on Mulchfest and locations, click here

A city worker getting ready to run a Christmas tree through a chipper machine (Photo: NYC Council)

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Maspeth man charged with manslaughter in hit-and-run death of 3-year-old Flushing boy: DA

A Maspeth man was criminally charged with manslaughter in the death of a 3-year-old boy in Flushing last week, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Ton Dec. 7.

Kevin Gomez, 20, of 60th Road, is accused of hitting the child with his car and dragging him approximately 10 feet before driving away. Gomez is charged on a 14-count indictment for manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and other crimes.

“New York’s Funniest Stand-Up” with Matt Koff

Dec. 6, 2023 by Jill Carvajal

The “New York’s Funniest Stand-Up” competition recently celebrated its 15th year as part of the annual New York Comedy Festival both founded by Caroline Hirsch of Caroline’s on Broadway. New York’s Funniest and previous winners have gone on to become some of the biggest names in comedy.

CB 7 votes to approve phase two of development plan that would bring NYCFC soccer stadium, affordable housing to Willets Point

Community Board 7 (CB 7) on Dec. 4 voted overwhelmingly to approve phase two of the Willets Point Revitalization Plan that will bring 2,500 units of 100% affordable housing — the city’s biggest affordable housing community since the 1980s — a 650-seat public elementary school, a 250-room hotel and a 25,000 soccer stadium as the new home for the New York City Football Club, on what was known as the Iron Triangle across Tom Seaver Way from Citi Field.