Chip And Cheer: Mulchfest, NYC Parks’ Annual Holiday Upcycling Celebration, Kicks Off Friday, December 26

Prospect Park. Photo: NYC Parks / Daniel Avila

Mulchfest 2026 Chipping Weekend: On January 10 and 11, bring your tree and take a bag of mulch home! 

The holiday season is here, and so is NYC Parks’ annual Mulchfest tree chipping celebration! Beginning December 26, New Yorkers can “tree”-cycle their holiday trees at local parks, with convenient drop-off sites in all five boroughs. This year, Parks will host a “chipping weekend” on January 10 and 11 from 10am – 2pm. On these days, residents can bring their tree to a chipping site, watch their tree be chipped, and bring a bag of nutrient-rich mulch home with them. 

On December 26, drop-offs begin at 76 sites citywide, including: 

Bronx: 

• St. James Park  
• Pelham Bay Park 
• Williamsbridge Oval Park  
• Crotona Park- Tennis house

Brooklyn: 

• Prospect Park- Lincoln Road & Ocean Avenue 
• Coffey Park 
• Sunset Park  
• Washington Park 

Manhattan: 

• Morningside Park 
• Seward Park   
• Central Park- W 67th Street (north side of Tavern on the Green entrance)  
• Washington Square Park 

Staten Island: 

• Silver Lake Tennis House 
• Tappen Park 
• Wolfe’s Pond Park 
• Willowbrook Park 

Queens: 

• Rockaway Beach – Shore Front Pkwy & Beach 94th Street 
• Queensbridge Park (Vernon Boulevard and Queensbridge Park Greenway) 
• John Golden Park (215th Place and 33rd Avenue) 
• Lawrence Virgilio Playground (Windmuller) (39th Drive and 54th Street) 

For more information, including the full list of Mulchfest drop-off and Saturday chipping sites, visit: www.nyc.gov/mulchfest.    

Mulchfest 2026 will run from December 26 through January 11. New Yorkers will be able to drop off holiday trees at one of 76 sites – including 35 chipping sites – across the five boroughs, including parks and Greenthumb gardens. The trees are then chipped and recycled, and the mulch is used to nourish city trees and plants in every corner of the city.  

ABOUT NYC PARKS MULCHFEST: 

Mulchfest, part of the New York City holiday tradition, encourages New Yorkers to make greening a family activity by turning holiday trees into mulch that can be used for gardening and to increase soil fertility. For more than 20 years, Parks has collected and mulched trees to help planting beds and community gardens around the city grow. Mulch maintains the health of our trees and plants citywide by deterring weeds, retaining moisture, preventing compaction, adding nutrients to the soil, and keeping roots warm. In recent years, Parks has mulched between 25,000 and 30,000 on average annually, with over 42,000 mulched during 2024, setting the first Mulchfest record. In 2025, NYC Parks achieved the second-highest Mulchfest record, chipping over 52,000 trees into sustainable mulch.