It started with a map
When I moved to New York, I wanted to actually explore the city on foot. I had read about the NYC Parks Great Trees Program, a registry of the city's most remarkable specimens, and realized finding them was harder than it should be. The information was scattered across databases, newspaper features, and old guides.
So I built a Google Map. I pulled from the NYC Parks database, New York Times coverage, and several other sources, added historical context for most entries, and organized it into something you could actually use on a walk. That became the NYC Great Trees map, now available on Etsy with 65+ pins across all five boroughs.
Then came the tour
Central Park alone has dozens of the city's most remarkable trees. Once the map existed, the natural next step was to actually walk it with people. I started taking friends, then listed it on Eventbrite and opened it to strangers too.
The tour winds through Central Park stopping at trees most people walk past every day without realizing what they're looking at. Some are hundreds of years old. Some survived events that reshaped the city around them. The history is genuinely interesting, and the format is a good excuse to spend an hour outside with curious people.
Who it's for
Anyone who wants to see Central Park differently. You don't need to know anything about trees going in. That's kind of the point. I've run it for groups of longtime New Yorkers who had no idea what they were standing next to, and for people who just moved here and wanted a reason to explore.