New York City should carefully measure a new tree
Using recent LiDAR data, an author identifies new candidate trees in New York City that might surpass the Queens Giant as the city's tallest measured tree.
summary is enough The post is a short, lighthearted exploration of using LiDAR to find NYC's tallest trees, which is fully captured in the summary.
summary
The author uses recent aerial LiDAR data from NYC to search for potential new candidates for the city's tallest tree, noting that the current record-holder, the Queens Giant, was last measured in 2004. By analyzing point clouds and canopy estimates, several tall tree candidates were identified in parks like Inwood Hill. The author suggests the parks department officially measure these trees to update records and help protect them. The piece highlights how modern open geospatial data makes answering hyper-local geographical questions accessible.
key points
- The current record-holder, the Queens Giant, was measured at 133.8 feet in 2004.
- The author used NYC's May 2021 airborne LiDAR flight and GIS point clouds to identify taller canopy candidates.
- New candidates were located in urban green spaces like Inwood Hill Park.
who should read it
Geospatial enthusiasts, urban foresters, and New York City residents interested in local geography.
discussion positive
consensus
Commenters enjoy the novelty of using open geospatial data for local queries, while discussing dataset accuracy.
pushback
A minority questioned whether publicizing exact tree locations increases vandalism risks.
Maybe. There is a "great tree" list and all of them are still standing: https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/great-trees
One of these is on my usual walking route and I had no idea. After reading this, I looked at it carefully and was wowed. These things can hide in plain sight, but I appreciated having my attention drawn to it. It's great!
It links to NYC's official Great Trees list, providing useful context about existing protected specimens.
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