[Update Below] This week, New York City is committing mass arborcide in the name of public safety. Since Monday at least 100 trees in Isham and Inwood Hill Parks have been cut down, and more than 200 have been heavily pruned, in an attempt to make the areas safer. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg seemed less ominous than recent years in announcing his $68.7 billion preliminary budget for the 2013 Fiscal Year yesterday, which is balanced as required by law and doesn't feature any tax hikes or layoffs of teachers or cops. Rocking a blue V-neck sweater in honor of the Giants' Super Bowl bid, Bloomberg told reporters, "Cities across the country have struggled to keep their heads above water - laying off teachers, police officers, or firefighters, with a few even having to declare bankruptcy,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We’ve avoided those painful steps, because we spent years planning ahead, made government more efficient and saved for a rainy day." more ›

Dastardly emerald ash beetles are coming to destroy our trees, warn scientists. And there's no way to stop them from their deadly crusade against nature. more ›

A few days ago, we concluded, with the help of science, that yes, it is indeed the worst allergy season ever in the history of time. Today, the Times reminds us that allergies are still happening, but hidden away at the very end of their article is a tiny glimmer of hope for us snot-nosed sufferers! more ›

We cannot even begin to tell you how many boxes of Kleenex, blister packs of Claritin, and bottles of eye droplets we go through every spring to combat the evil allergies Mother Nature throws our way. It sucks. But this year, we've been swearing it sucks harder than usual, and it turns out we were right! It IS the worst allergy season ever, and now we have SCIENCE backing it up, so excuse us while we shoot pollen-induced snot into every open space within a 30-mile radius. more ›

Good dog owners in New York know to pick up their dog's number twos, but even the best dog owners aren't very careful about where their pups put their number one. And that has some local gardeners upset! So upset, in fact, that one new gardner in Washington Square Park has taken to the New York Times to vent. People, your dog's urine is killing our parks! more ›

Still looking for your Christmas tree and unsure of where you can find one? Well, Gothamist is here to help! On Friday, we asked you where you're spotting Christmas tree vendors and lots of you responded. We took the locations from the comments and reader emails and placed them into this handy dandy map. If we're missing any locations, send them over via email (tips@gothamist.com) or put them into the comments. Again, the more detail on the location, the better. more ›

If you're one to get a Christmas Tree, and are having a hard time, we're going to try and help you out. You may recall that we put a Christmas Tree map together last year. Well, we're going to do it for 2010 too! So if you've spotted a tree vendor, let us know the location (the more detail, the better) and we'll put it on a map for everyone to see. Send in the location to tips@gothamist.com or put them in the comments here! more ›

Too bad you probably blew your year's savings on Black Friday already, because instead of getting gifts for the whole family you could have been the envy of the entire neighborhood with the Rolls Royce of Christmas trees. At his temporary stand, Scott Lechner is hawking 17-foot trees in SoHo for up to $900. And you should want one, because according to Lechner, celebrities buy them. He told the Daily News, "A regular tree is beautiful, but one of our jumbos is majestic. It's not just a tree, it's an experience. And it's worth every penny." Until December 26th, when it's thrown on the street with every other experience. more ›

We're so inundated with anti-hipster sites out there, documenting their colorful headband-enhanced outfits, their chest tattoos, or how much they hate Jager bombs, that we sometimes lose track of all the things they like. Such as sleeping in nylon hammocks 25 feet up in a tree in Central Park at night. CBS, you have your latest show: Shit My Hipster Does. more ›

As part of Mayor Bloomberg's plan to plant one million new trees in the city by 2017, volunteers took to parks in Staten Island, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens yesterday to add another 20,000 to that number. About 3,500 trees were planted in Van Cortlandt park alone. More places for the coyotes to hide! more ›

As the five boroughs watch for another tornado, the NY Times profiles the team cleaning up trees from the last time we were hit. Turns out parks commissioner Adrian Benepe was urged to bring in an outside "hotshot" crew to help with damages, and yesterday the Tennessee team (of 21 men and 1 woman) was cleaning up downed trees in Prospect Park. more ›

Photos keep rolling in showing the sad tree carnage wrought by the tornadoes and macroburst that slammed Queens and Brooklyn last week. An estimated 2,000 trees were felled by the storm in Queens alone, and crews are still trying to clear away the devastation. Karyn Regal, who sent these photos of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, says that visiting the park yesterday "was like attending a funeral. It is truly mind-blowing. I grew up in New England, with blizzards galore, but this takes the cake." more ›

After yesterday's huge storm rolled in and pummeled the city, especially Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, authorities are taking a look at the devastation which left one person dead and caused transit delays and power outages for tens of thousands. National Weather Service officials will also look at the storm data and see whether it was in fact a tornado. more ›

Fashion and nature, seems those two are always at odds. To keep the battle lines clear, the folks behind Fashion Week decided to "murder" dozens of gorgeous trees at Lincoln Center to make way for their giant white tents. But before you put on your sandwich board and protest the arborcide, according to the Daily News, 56 trees of those trees were deemed dead or declining—11 others were transplanted—so perhaps this time around fashion saved some lives? Not so fast... more ›

The Central Park Conservancy has been using a program called TreeWorks to determine which trees in the park are in need of attention and care. Trees are tagged with labels like "Priority 1" and "immediate action," and are ideally attended by CPC employees. However, the recent series of injuries and deaths caused by falling tree limbs in the park has sparked an investigation into how well the system works. According to the Post, it doesn't. more ›

In order to save the now 73 trees, including an oak that dates back to the Civil War, Bronx preservationists are planning to rally on Saturday. The city claims the trees need to go in order to repair a stretch of road that is notorious for accidents, but locals say the trees are an integral part of the borough's landscape. George Zulch of Pelham Parkway Preservation Alliance told the Post, They keep saying it's [either] safety or the trees, but we say it can be safety and the trees." more ›

Bronx residents are up in arms over a $36 million road improvement project that would require 87 mature trees to be cut down. Officials say the trees roots extend underneath a portion of road that needs to be repaved, and pose a safety hazard. But Baychester resident Joan Ribosh told WCBS, "I feel bad. They’ve been here so long. I lived here in the 50s and 60s, and all the trees are still here.” Thankfully, Regis Philbin is on the scene. more ›

Just last night, limbs from a Central Park tree fell onto 62nd Street and 5th Avenue. No one was hurt, but it highlights a 2007 audit from the comptroller, which shows that the Parks Department is inattentive when it comes to rotting trees. more ›