The Yuletide season has finally ground to a halt.
The city’s annual Mulchfest rang out the holiday season this year by setting a record for harvesting old Christmas trees in a normal year — as some 52,000 of the holiday pines were processed in the Parks Department event.
The haul almost reached the 58,000-tree threshold from 2023 — but that high mark came with a major asterisk as the stats were boosted by a glut of unsold trees that were ground up under a special city deal with vendors who failed to sell out in a year of high prices.
“It was a great turnout! Mulchfest is popular year after year,” Mark Focht, Deputy Commissioner/Chief Operating Officer, told The Post.
The 52,000 total for this year is on par with what Parks Department officials expected to rake in after seeing a lackluster turnout in 2024, in which only about 42,000 were mulched.
The difference in total means more than 9,000 trees were saved from being dumped on the curb or tossed in the trash compared to last year.
“Over time it has become part of many New Yorker’s holiday traditions. This year we had good weather, which brought out good participation.”
The three-week event has been going on for three decades. After the big haul in 2023 because of the city’s deal with vendors, the major lull in 2024 came because of a rash of severely cold temperatures and many families turning toward artificial trees, officials said.
This year, Brooklyn took home the crown for the borough that mulched the most trees. More than one-third of all the city’s trees were recycled in the largest county.
About 6,000 trees were chipped across three locations at Prospect Park — the very same park “Tree-cycling” was born in 1988, the Park Slope Civic Council-sponsored event that transformed into the Mulchfest celebrated today.
“Mulchfest is environmentally sensitive. People appreciate that. It is a way to reduce waste and be sustainable — part of a tree’s natural lifecycle and helps new plants, gardens and trees grow,” said Focht.
Marine Park in south Brooklyn took home the second place slot after transforming 4,700 Christmas trees into plant fuel.
Many families have come to view the event as an extension of the holiday season.
“It is absolutely a great event for families. It’s fun to see kids enjoying the event, including the hot chocolate and granola bars we have at the chipping sites. I remember seeing one woman leave with four bags (of mulch) and children experiencing Mulchfest for the first time,” said Focht.
“We’re taking these trees and giving them new life. Mulch maintains the health of trees and plants citywide, by deterring weeds, retaining moisture, preventing compaction, adding nutrients to the soil, and keeping roots warm,” he continued.
“Also, I say this every year; Mulchfest is the best-smelling event that NYC Parks put together.”