No Shade: Illegally Parked Cop Cars Are Why We Can't Have Nice Trees

Robert Lopez was walking home past the 83rd Precinct at 480 Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on an 87-degree Wednesday when he was faced with a particularly vexing challenge on that block: making it to tree-lined Menahan Street without melting into a puddle of his own sweat. 

The problem? There are no trees planted outside the precinct, and therefore no shade. A tree was scheduled to be planted outside the station in March of last year, according to a City work order, but it was canceled. The official reason, according to a public database—"Void - police."

The blame can be pinned squarely on a long-time scourge: According to a Hell Gate investigation, for years, the NYC Parks Department has routinely avoided planting trees outside of NYPD precincts due to cops illegally parking their vehicles on the sidewalk. 

"We absolutely need to see more trees around here," Lopez told Hell Gate, gesturing to the street, while squinting into the sun. 

A search of canceled tree planting work orders on the City's Open Data portal found that in the period between 2018 and 2025, at least 10 scheduled plantings around precincts were voided due to reasons listed as either "precinct," "NYPD parking," or "police backin parking." The canceled work orders span across every borough. A review of the NYC Tree Map shows that there are conspicuous bald spots around many NYPD precincts.