The NYC Parks Department announced in October that the Asian Long-horned beetle had been eradicated from the City. First discovered in 1996, the invasive species was a particularly hard one to stop. It decimated hardwood trees across the city, and any tree found to be infested was immediately cut down. This resulted in massive tree loss throughout our parks, along our streets and in our cemeteries. The last reported sighting of one of these destructive pests was in 2013, and the city’s tree canopy is in the process of recovery.