Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced today that the City of Newark has been named a 2025 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, recognizing its ongoing commitment to planting, growing, and maintaining trees to benefit the community. This is the tenth time the city has received this designation, with the last occasion being fifteen years ago.
This recognition comes during Earth Month and builds on Newark’s continued investment in environmental sustainability. Since launching the “Rooted in Newark” tree canopy initiative on Earth Day last year, the city has planted 1,137 trees citywide. Newark is continuing to expand its tree planting efforts, with a focus on neighborhoods impacted by extreme heat.
“Newark is becoming greener every year – bringing vitality and freshness to our community, with more color, cleaner air, and much needed shade and coolness on streets that were nothing but pavement and concrete,” said Mayor Baraka. “We’ve prioritized planting 5,000 trees over the next 10 years so that future generations inherit a healthier, safer and more beautiful urban environment. We are proud and honored to receive this recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation.”
The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program is operated in partnership with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service. To earn Tree City USA recognition, a city must uphold four core standards, including maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and participating in an Arbor Day celebration.
The City of Newark spent $9.61 per capita on trees in 2025, and the Office of Sustainability, Resilience, and Community Transformation organized an Arbor Day celebration that brought together residents, city staff, and nonprofit partners to plant 30 trees on Avon Avenue.
“These trees do much more than beautify our city,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Nicole Hewitt-Cabral. “They will work toward reducing Newark’s urban heat island effect that makes our summer temperatures higher than anywhere in the surrounding area. Trees play a vital role in improving air quality and reducing stormwater runoff that leads to flooding—directly benefiting residents’ health and safety. When planted in the right places, they do even more: boosting mental and physical well-being, improving school performance, increasing property values, lowering energy costs, and strengthening community safety. That’s why every tree we plant in Newark is a moment worth celebrating.”
“My dreams came true when I walked down Lafayette Street and saw block after block of trees. It’s fantastic that Newark has once again become a Tree City USA,” Arnold Cohen, lifelong Newark resident.
“For five decades, Tree City USA has rallied passionate local leaders to enhance the livability and sustainability of their communities. Tree champions like Newark are leading the way in a growing movement to shape a better future with trees and action,” said Michelle Saulnier, Vice President of Programs at the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees are critical infrastructure, building resiliency and fostering good health in our nation’s cities. We’re proud Newark is among the Arbor Day Foundation’s growing network of communities dedicated to creating positive impact through trees.”
The City of Newark will continue its Earth Month programming with volunteer tree planting events and free tree giveaways scheduled for upcoming Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
April 18 – Riverbank Park (Market and Ferguson Streets)
April 25 – Branch Brook Park (Lake Street and Elwood Avenue)
May 9 – Nat Turner Park (Muhammad Ali Avenue near Boyd Street)
Tools, supplies and lunch will be provided. Newark residents can reserve a free tree for pickup at one of the events. Trees include dogwood, lilac, redbud, apricot, pecan, plum, persimmon, and walnut. Residents can use this link to register for the volunteer tree planting events and the free tree giveaways.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is a global nonprofit inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. They foster a growing community of more than 1 million leaders, innovators, planters, and supporters united by their bold belief that a more hopeful future can be shaped through the power of trees. For more than 50 years, they’ve answered critical need with action, planting more than half a billion trees alongside their partners. And this is only the beginning.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pursuing a future where all life flourishes through the power of trees. Learn more at arborday.org.
For photos, click here.