NEW YORK, NY January 05, 2009 —New Yorkers have from now until January 16th to have their trees mulched by the city. Sanitation crews will be out collecting leftover trees. Last year parks officials recycled more than 13,000 trees, but this year sanitation commissioner, John Doherty says they will need a little help.

DOHERTY: What we really want the people to think about when they put the tree out is take the ornaments off, take any lights off. And I know people like to put that plastic sheet around it so that when the pine needles come off they don't get all over the house. But when we bring it out we ask them to try to take that off.

The mulch will be used at city parks. You can also bring your tree to one of dozens of locations around the city. For more information on tree pick up or Mulchfest, visit

New York City Dept of Parks, Mulchfest http://www.nycgovparks.org/services/mulchfest/mulchfest.html