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It's that magical time of year when red buds and green leaves finally burst forth from the brown tree branches we've been seeing for months. If you want a tree of your own to care for, you can get one for free this spring thanks to the New York Restoration Project (NYRP).
Just in time for Earth Month, NYRP is hosting free tree giveaways with community partners throughout New York City from April 5 through May 4, 2025. They plan to distribute 3,500 trees across the five boroughs, including American persimmon, flowering dogwood, and Pawpaw trees, as a way to help NYC's environmental resilience. Keep scrolling to find a tree distribution spot near your neighborhood.
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Since the program started in 2008, NYRP has given away more than 75,000 trees as part of the MillionTreesNYC initiative led in partnership with the NYC Parks Department. As the climate crisis intensifies, trees do the important work of providing shade, creating wildlife habitats, reducing temperatures, improving air quality, and mitigating storm water run-off.

This year 26 different native tree species will be distributed, including American persimmon, American plum, beach plum, black cherry, eastern redbud, flowering dogwood, pawpaw, sweetbay magnolia, and witchhazel. If you'd like a tree, be sure to register in advance here.
"New York Restoration Project's free tree giveaways are a great spring tradition in our city," New York Restoration Project Executive Director Lynn Bodnar Kelly said in a press release. "This beloved program continues to spread the undeniable benefits of our urban tree canopy to the neighborhoods that need them most. Our city must get more trees in the ground if we want to truly increase New York’s environmental
resilience."
In a statement, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine lauded NYRP for "prioritizing historically underplanted neighborhoods, like Harlem, as tree distribution sites."

Free tree distribution sites
Week 1
- Saturday, April 5, 9:30am-2pm: TD Bank (Norwood, The Bronx)
- Saturday, April 5, 10am-12pm: Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (New Brighton, Staten Island)
- Saturday, April 5, 2-4pm: McCarren Park (Greenpoint, Brooklyn)
- Sunday, April 6, 10am-12pm: New York City Children’s Theater (Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan)
- Sunday, April 6, 2-4pm: Queens Botanical Garden (Flushing, Queens)
Week 2
- Saturday, April 12, 10am-12pm: Brooklyn Public Library-Clarendon (Flatbush, Brooklyn)
- Saturday, April 12, 2-4pm: Brooklyn Public Library-Marcy (Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn)
- Sunday, April 13, 10am-12pm: RISE Rockaway (Far Rockaway, Queens)
- Sunday, April 13, 2-4pm: H.E.A.L.T.H. for Youths (St. George, Staten Island)
Week 3
- Saturday, April 19, 10am-1pm: Citizens LIC (Long Island City, Queens)
- Saturday, April 19, 10am-12pm: Wyckoff House Museum (Canarsie, Brooklyn)
- Saturday, April 19, 2-4pm: Red Hook Farms (Red Hook, Brooklyn)
- Sunday, April 20, 10am-12pm: Jamaica Muslim Center (Jamaica Hills, Queens)
- Sunday, April 20, 2-4pm: Kissena Synergy (Flushing, Queens)
Week 4
- Saturday, April 26, 10am-12pm: NYPL-Westchester Square (Westchester Square, The Bronx)
- Saturday, April 26, 10am-12pm: Citizens Woodside (Woodside, Queens)
- Saturday, April 26, 2-4pm: Bronx River Alliance (Crotona Park East)
- Sunday, April 27, 10am-12pm: Bissel Gardens (Wakefield, The Bronx)
- Sunday, April 27, 2-4pm: Green-Wood Cemetery (Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn)
Week 5
- Saturday, May 3, 10am-12pm: New Roots Community Farm (Concourse, The Bronx)
- Saturday, May 3, 2-4pm: NYPL-Mott Haven (Mott Haven, The Bronx)
- Sunday, May 4, 10am-12pm: Travers Park (Jackson Heights, Queens)
- Sunday, May 4, 2-4pm: St. Nicholas Park (Harlem, Manhattan)

Time Out tip
Even though registration for some events is full, you may still be able to get a tree at these events. Not everyone who registers in advance will come to pick up their tree, so there are always trees available for first-come, first-serve walk-ups during the second half of each event.
If you plan on attending an event with full registration, NYRP recommends arriving at the beginning of the event to add yourself to the waitlist. They will start distributing all remaining trees to people on the waitlist at the start of the second hour.