Where are the forests in New York City?

This is often a question I get at first mention of natural areas- it is thought that the the so called nature in New York is made up of street trees. This is not actually the case, street trees are wonderful and provide shade, reduce noise levels, clean the air and even gentrify neighborhoods-but if you want to see an actual forest in NYC where do you go?

In New York city there are over 11,000 acres  of natural areas and over 7,000 acres of forests-and many of the benefits trees provide in urban areas increase exponentially in natural areas compared to street trees.

Trees, whether it is a single tree on your block or walk through a Sugar Maple forest provide a very direct benefit for new yorkers-a connection to the natural world. Regardless of your level of comfort with nature and being alone in the woods I am a strong believer that spending time outside in nature is rehibilitating-the best part of being a nature lover in New York City is that it does exisit here-and because it has survived admist the concrete and uprising of one of the greatests cities makes it even more inspiring.