16 JANUARY 4, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Time to tree-cycle at Mulchfest across Queens
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
The beginning of 2018 means the
end of the holiday season — and
soon, Queens residents will be
getting rid of their live Christmas trees.
Queens residents can bring their live
Douglas fi rs, balsams and other holiday
pines to 13 local parks as the Parks Department
kicks off “MulchFest 2018.”
The program began on Dec. 31.
The program, being conducted in
conjunction with the Sanitation Department
and Green NYC, recycles
live Christmas trees into mulch for
use as garden fertilizer throughout
the city.
“Recycling your Christmas tree is a
great environmental way to continue
to spread holiday cheer across the city,”
state Senator Joseph Addabbo said. “Your
tree will be used in a multitude of ways
to help the city’s trees to survive the cold
season and grow strong in the spring.”
Residents can start bringing their
bare, live Christmas trees to 13 dropoff
points in Queens through Sunday,
Jan. 7.
Trees will be chipped during the
weekend of Jan. 6-7 at seven of the
13 drop-off points in the borough;
residents can take home a bag of free
mulch from these chipping centers.
The Queens drop-off locations are as
follows (chipping centers are in bold):
• Astoria Park, 19th Street and Hoyt
Avenue;
• Brookville Park, Brookville Boulevard
between Caney Road and 144th
Avenue;
• Captain Mario Fajardo Playground,
Kissena Boulevard at Booth
Memorial Avenue, Flushing;
• Cunningham Park, 196th Place and
Union Turnpike, Fresh Meadows;
• Forest Park, Forest Park Drive and
Woodhaven Boulevard;
• Hunters Point South Park, LIC
Landing Events Space at 51st Avenue
and Center Boulevard, Long
Island City;
• Juniper Valley Park, 80th Street
between Juniper Boulevards North
and South, Middle Village;
• Queensbridge Park, Vernon Boulevard
and Queensbridge Park
Greenway, Long Island City;
• Rockaway Beach at 2 points, Beach
94th Street and Shore Front Parkway
and the parking lot at Beach 11th Street;
• Roy Wilkins Park, Merrick and
Foch boulevards, South Jamaica;
• Travers Park, 78th Street and 34th
Avenue, Jackson Heights; and
• Lawrence Virgilio Playground, 39th
Drive and 54th Street, Woodside.
File photo/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
If you can’t make it out to the dropoff
points, the Sanitation Department
will hold a special round of
curbside Christmas tree collections
now ongoing through Jan. 18.
Before disposing of your Christmas
trees at the drop-off points
or by the curb, be sure to remove
any lights, ornaments, garland and
netting.
Visit nycgovparks.org for more
MulchFest information.
A tree being chipped at Travers Park in Jackson Heights in 2015.
Glendale school celebrated
the season with brunch
Photo courtesy of Donna Rufrano
Before embarking on their Christmas vacation, students at St. Pancras School in Glendale enjoyed a brunch
with Santa. Ol’ St. Nick made time out of his busy schedule to fl y down from the North Pole to meet and greet
schoolchildren, some of whom are pictured with him.
