[Update below] Over the weekend, the city parks blog A Walk In the Park reported that nearly a dozen cherry trees were chopped down outside Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens. The Queens Borough President initially told NY1 the trees were cut down to make room for construction workers building a $21 million dollar project, which will create a glass atrium in the rear courtyard. But when asked about the trees again yesterday, BP Helen Marshall angrily dismissed the earlier explanation out of her office. more ›

Two men with a passion for the great outdoors were looking to sharpen their axe-handling skills one night earlier this month when they ran afoul of the local constabulary. Police sources tell DNAinfo that Jonathan Li, 29, of Inwood, and Salvatore Chiarelli, 26, of Brooklyn were arrested on March 4th after some skittish city slicker called 911 to report scary axe-wielding men roaming around Isham Park in Inwood. But there was no reason to panic—they were just a couple of good old boys alleviating the enervating boredom of urban living by hacking trees. more ›

About 200 trees are now gone in downtown neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, Soho, and Chinatown, according to the NY Post. Instead, "The missing limbs have left leaf-lorn neighborhoods pocked with muddy, litter-strewn craters and ugly stumps." And it seems like some of the missing trees are the victim of "delivery trucks, contractors, vandals, and people who simply ax them." more ›

If the trees in this city could talk... this one would have a lot to say. The massive white oak in Little Neck Bay in Queens is "believed to have been born in an open meadow before Columbus arrived in the New World." In 1997 it was even granted landmark status, but now it's being dismantled because it's rotting. more ›

Don't just toss your tannenbaum out onto the sidewalk; this weekend there are two events designed for the ultimate holiday arboricidal massacre. First up is the city's annual MulchFest, which invites you to bring your tree in to a designated city park (they'll open up shop in all five boroughs), where it will be turned into nourishing mulch. "You are encouraged to bring bags to take advantage of the free mulch" that will be provided at certain sites. More details here. more ›