Improving Tree Canopy in NYC

Data analysis and visuals for NYCC 6.23.22 'Oversight - Improving the City's Tree Canopy' hearing.

A related webpage for this analysis can be found on the council website

Main Takeaways

Trees provide multiple benefits for local communities such as improving air quality and mitigating the urban heat island effect.

• Neighborhoods with lower canopy coverage tend to also have higher daytime summer surface temperatures.

• Residents of Maspeth/Linden Hill, East Elmhurst, and South Ozone Park/Richmond Hill in Queens, Borough Park in Brooklyn, and Mariner's Harbor/Arlington in Staten Island and Unionport in the Bronx experience high heat in the summer without adequate access to parks to cool down.

---

Data Sources

• Tree Canopy

• Park Access

• Surface Temperature

• 2019 5-Year ACS Survey: *We used R package censusapi to get demographic data

Methodology

Methodologies can be referenced in the links for each of the data sources above.

Scripts

• 00_load_depencies.R: Run this script first to load the necessary packages and functions.

• 05_nta_equity_correlations.R: This script create the correlation plot between canopy coverage and surface temperature in a neighborhood.

• 07_SurfaceTemp_ParkAccess_Map.R: This script creates the surface temperature and park access map.

• Other scripts are not used for final images.