The visible data:
physical characteristics
If you were to walk the 6.2 miles of Fifth Avenue, you'd pass 1,234 street trees, composed of 37 species, of which Elms, Locusts, Lindens, and Ginkgos are the most prevalent. The visible data is focused on these main attributes: size (diameter), health (good, fair, poor), status (alive, dead or stump), species, and the presence of problems (in roots, trunk, or branches).
Show me the species!
37 species of trees are present along Fifth Avenue. The ranked count of each is shown below, with American Elm having nearly triple the amount of the next most common tree. About 42% of Fifth Avenue (2.6 miles of the 6.2 miles of Fifth Avenue) is adjacent to Central Park, where American Elms densely line the east edge, leading to the large number of American Elms.
Which species are most prevalent along Fifth Avenue?
Top 10 along Fifth Avenue
American Elm
Honey Locust
Ginkgo
Callery Pear
London Planetree
Littleleaf Linden
Japanese Zelkova
Japanese Pagoda
Pin Oak
Silver Linden
Top 10 in Manhattan
Honey Locust
Callery Pear
Ginkgo
Pin Oak
Japanese Pagoda
London Planetree
Japanese Zelkova
Littleleaf Linden
American Elm
American Linden
Top 10 in New York City
London Planetree
Honey Locust
Callery Pear
Pin Oak
Norway Maple
Littleleaf Linden
Cherry
Japanese Zelkova
Ginkgo
Japanese Pagoda
Trees of all sizes
Street trees along Fifth Avenue range from less than 1 inch in diameter, to 46 inches (almost four feet!) in diameter. Almost 30% of the street trees are between 5 and 10 inches in diameter. The largest trees are found on the east edge of Central Park, adjacent to Fifth Avenue, where there is more room for bigger trees with larger root sytems. In the chart below, you can see how the distribution of tree sizes along Fifth Avenue compares to that of all NYC street trees.
What’s the distribution of street tree sizes along Fifth Avenue, and how does this compare to that of all of NYC street trees?
What’s the distribution of street tree sizes along Fifth Avenue, and how does this compare to that of all of NYC street trees?
Note: these do not reflect the size ranges for these species as a whole, just for those trees present along Fifth Avenue.
A picture of health
Health (of living trees) is broken into good, fair, and poor. 80% of trees are in good health (995 trees). Fifth Avenue street trees have a higher rate of good health than street trees in Manhattan and all of NYC. Dark gray portions represent the percentage of stumps and dead trees.
How does the health of trees compare between neighborhoods?
Fifth Avenue crosses through many neighborhoods, with differing distances through each. Though the number of street trees in each neighborhood varies significantly because of that, we can compare the percentages of trees in each health category. Upper East Side and Murray Hill areas have the highest percentage of trees in good health.
What problems do these trees have?
Problems were documented in three main areas: roots, trunk, and branches. Root problems were marked if there were paving stones in tree bed, metal grates in the tree bed, or other root problems. Trunk problems were marked if there were trunk problems caused by wires or rope around trunk, lighting in tree, or other issues present. Branch problems were marked if there were issues caused by lights or wires, sneakers, or other causes.
Half of the Fifth Avenue street trees have at least one problem, and almost half (45%) have problems with the roots. Dead trees and stumps account for 2% of all Fifth Avenue street trees. Problem areas are not mutually exclusive– in fact, trees with three or more problems, and trees with problems in more than one area have the highest levels of poor health.
What does the health of trees look like for those with problems?
Problems with roots – whether a metal grate, rocks in the root bed, or “other” – don’t seem to have that much effect on a street tree’s health. The health breakdown for those with root problems is nearly identical to that of trees with no problems. Those with trunk problems have the highest level of poor health (14%).
Which neighborhoods have the highest percent of trees with problems?
Midtown-Midtown South has the highest rate of trees with problems, at 68.1%, which is higher than the average across neighborhoods. Murray Hill-Kips Bay boasts no trees with problems. The stretches of Fifth Avenue each neighborhood crosses are noted under each. Fewer blocks means fewer street trees, but not necessarily fewer problems.
Midtown
29th St – 57th St
68.1%Upper East Side
57th St – 96th St
51.4%Harlem
96th – 147th St
50.1%Hudson Yards-Chelsea
14th St – 29th St
38.7%West Village
8th St – 14th St
34.3%Murray Hill-Kips Bay
E 34th St – E 42nd St
0%
See the invisible data
We count on trees every day to provide clean air, divert stormwater, and reduce CO2. Fifth Avenue’s street trees put in a lot of work offsetting the effects of human activity and pollution. Learn just how much ecological benefits these trees provide.