In 2024, the federal government spent $6.5 trillion. State and local governments $4.3 trillion more. Even when we hear "trillion" and "billion" tossed around like monopoly money every day on CNN, this is an unfathomable amount. Amid the enormity of these budgets, it's easy to lose sight of what this money creates. Quietly, almost invisibly, government scaffolds daily life, building the roads we drive on, the hospitals we heal in, and the schools we learn in.

It helps you—whether you notice it or not.

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation isn't NBC's Parks and Rec. One of its many responsibilities is planting trees. Between June and November 2024, NYC Parks planted about 2,800 of them.

These 2,800 join some 870,000 trees in New York City that NYC Parks and Recreation maintains. Why is a city government planting (and counting) trees? Research shows that green space benefits ecology, health, and safety. New York City measures some of these benefits, finding that stormwater collection, energy conservation, and air filtration alone benefit New Yorkers to the tune of $125,000,000 annually.

How 'bout that for your friendly, neighborhood Department of Parks and Rec?