Spring has sprung, and with it comes every New Yorker’s favorite time of year: cherry blossom season! NYC Parks is pleased to announce that peak bloom has arrived for trees around the city. Every year, New Yorkers flock to see the seasonal blooms in all five boroughs – a great way to get outside and enjoy City parks as the weather warms up.
“Cherry blossoms are an absolute must-see every spring in NYC, and our parks are the best places to go,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “From Sakura Park to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, all five boroughs play host to these beautiful blooms.”
“I encourage all New Yorkers to spend some time outdoors and appreciate the cherry blossoms, one of the surest signs that spring has arrived,” said NYC Parks Tree Time Manager James Kaechele. “Our diverse urban forest includes flowering trees of all kinds, and I look forward to watching them all bloom in the weeks ahead.”
This spring, Parks has you covered for the best locations to see the famous cherry trees in every borough, how to identify all of the varieties, and a brand new NYC Tree Map to help you pin-point each and every one.
Where to go:
BRONX
Pelham Bay Park ~ Escape the city for a minute with a trip to City Island for fresh air, seafood, and cherry blossoms! NYC’s largest park features Yoshino blossoms near the City Island Bridge.
BROOKLYN
Brooklyn Botanic Garden ~ The grove of cherries is worth the trip to Prospect Park – when they’re in full bloom, it’s like the sky is made of cherry blossoms!
MANHATTAN
Sakura Park ~ Sakura means cherry blossom in Japanese, so what better place to experience cherry blossom season in New York City than at the park named for them! The cherry trees in this park were gifted from Japan in 1912. Dozens of Yoshino cherry trees blossom here, usually in early April.
QUEENS
Flushing Meadows Corona Park ~ Experience the arrival of cherry blossom season at the world’s park in Queens near the Unisphere! This not-to-be-missed grove of Okame cherry trees is usually the first to blossom in NYC.
STATEN ISLAND
Silver Lake Park ~ Kwanzan cherry blossoms are the highlight of spring in this beautiful Staten Island park, but don’t forget about the crabapples and red maple trees, too!
For more cherry blossom viewing sites, please visit the cherry blossom page of our website.
How to identify cherry trees:
There are three iconic varieties of cherry tree, though many others grace NYC’s streets and parks.
The Okame cherry has dark bark and is the first to bloom a single pink flower. There are five petals per flower with a notch at the end of each petal.
The Yoshino cherry is the iconic Washington, DC, cherry with white/light pink flowers. They are dense along the branches and produce a small black cherry after blooming that is prized by birds.
The Kwanzan cherry is the last to bloom in spring. The flowers are a vibrant pink and doubled, meaning they have a ruffled appearance. They are quite common as a street tree.
Parks Tree Map:
Parks’ first-of-its-kind tree map, showcasing nearly one million individually managed City trees, empowers New Yorkers to digitally interact with their neighborhood trees in real time.
There are over 6,000 cherry trees within city parks and more than 34,000 cherry trees planted on streets around the city (check out Park Avenue on the Upper East Side!). Of the five boroughs, Queens leads the way with more than 15,000 cherry trees. Find them on the NYC Parks Tree Map by filtering for the tree species “Japanese flowering cherry.”