Environmental nonprofit Big Reuse planted the first trees as part of their planting season on Wednesday, part of a multiyear program that will bring over 200 tress to various neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Thanks to a grant from the Department of Environmental Conservation, the organization will be planting a total of 235 new trees in disadvantaged communities from now until spring 2027, nonprofit executives said.
Wednesday's tree planting event took place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard area with Cumberland Packing Corporation and City Council Member Lincoln Restler. Refreshments were provided courtesy of local businesses Brooklyn Roasting Company and She Wolf Bakery. Big Reuse’s tree planting crew team worked with employees from Cumberland Packing Corporation to plant two pin oaks in empty tree beds on North Portland Street.
“This is our backyard,” said Cumberland employee Ana Zaldarriaga, who secured parking for the truck transporting the 400 lb pin oak trees, water supply, compost, mycelium and tools.
The tree planting team took volunteers step-by-step through the process of loosening existing soil in tree beds, breaking up mycelium, mixing in compost, digging just the right amount into the tree bed, and finishing it off with a layer of mulch. The Cumberland and Big Reuse teams’ hard work paid off in two beautiful new trees that will benefit the area for years to come.
“The [teams'] energy is contagious and [their] work is vital,” said Zaldarriaga.
For Spring 2026, the nonprofit plans to focus planting trees in the Brooklyn Navy Yard (District 35) and Cypress Hills (District 37).
“We are so grateful to have received this grant from DEC allowing us to expand the urban tree canopy in neighborhoods that need them the most in Brooklyn and Queens,” said Big Reuse’s Tree Planting Program Coordinator Maric Kusinitz. “Our dedicated staff at Big Reuse and incredible community partnerships in the Navy Yard neighborhood made our first planting season more fun and successful than we could have imagined!”
