After a long winter, spring is in full swing, and with it the cherry blossom season in New York City.
Tens of thousands of ornamental cherry trees around the city have started bursting with white and pink petals in a display that lasts about a month.
Here’s an overview of what kind of cherry blossoms are in New York City, when they’ll bloom and where to find them.
When is peak cherry blossom season?
Most of New York’s cherry trees bloom by mid-April, though some types bloom earlier or later. A blooming tree holds its blossoms for about 10 days.
When exactly each tree begins to flower is hard to predict and can depend on the temperature and the amount of daylight it receives.
As winters in New York have become shorter and more mild, the city’s cherry trees are blooming earlier than they did a decade ago, said Shauna Moore, the director of horticulture at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Blossom lovers can check the garden’s CherryWatch tracker, updated daily with information on whether each cherry tree is in pre-bloom, first bloom, peak bloom or post-peak bloom. By April 1, the garden’s early-season cherries, including the fuchsia-flowered Okame, were already in full bloom.
Ms. Moore said the garden’s cherry blossoms would last for around eight weeks.
“They kind of trickle in the first couple of weeks, and then, boom, and spring is on in full,” Ms. Moore said. “It’s just an amazing thing for Brooklyn. Everyone comes out. It’s the first sign of spring.”
The exact location of a tree can also influence when it blooms, said Navé Strauss, the director of tree planting for the city’s Department of Parks & Recreation.
In New York, where the density of buildings and pavement create a slightly warmer microclimate, cherry trees bloom a bit earlier than in places just 20 miles away, Mr. Strauss said.
But even within the city, location matters, he said.
“Within our own little microclimate are extra teeny microclimates,” Mr. Strauss said. “Some of our small pocket parks and playgrounds across the city are going to be a few degrees warmer than some of those big landscape parks.”
What kinds of cherry trees can be found in New York?
The three most common types of flowering cherry trees across the city are the Okame, Yoshino and Kwanzan, according to the Parks Department. But there are far more varieties, with at least 26 types at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden alone.
The Okame usually begins blooming in mid- to late March or early April, but the Yoshino’s white flowers and the Kwanzan’s pink blossoms can sometimes still be seen in late April or early May.
Mr. Strauss said there were roughly 6,800 cherry trees in the city’s parks. Some of the newest are the more than 100 trees that were planted in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park in 2024, which bloomed for the first time last spring.
The park’s setting — overlooking New York Bay, with views of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn — makes the new trees a particularly special spring attraction in a historically underserved neighborhood, Mr. Strauss said.
“These are young trees right now, but we think that in the years to come, this is going to be one of the next best destinations for viewing cherry blossoms of all kinds,” he said.
Where are the best spots in the city to see cherry blossoms?
By filtering for “Japanese flowering cherry” on the Parks Department’s New York City Tree Map, you can see the exact locations of about 40,000 cherry trees. Here are some standouts from the department’s list of best parks to see the blossoms.
Sakura Park, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, got its name from the 2,000 cherry trees that were sent to the city from Japan in 1912. Nearby, cherry trees run alongside the Riverside Park Cherry Walk from West 100th Street to West 125th Street. There’s a smaller walkway of cherry trees in Marcus Garvey Park, in Harlem, near the entrance on 124th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Most of the cherry trees in Central Park are found between 72nd Street and 96th Street. There are 35 Yoshino trees on the east side of the Central Park Reservoir (and plenty of pink cherry trees on the west side). The park’s website lists lots of other popular spots for blossom hunters, including Cherry Hill, Pilgrim Hill, the Great Lawn and Cedar Hill.
Downtown, there are usually late-blooming Kwanzan trees in Union Square and Madison Square Park and several Yoshino trees in Washington Square Park.
In the Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden has more than 200 cherry trees, including a row of the pink weeping variety near the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The garden’s Spring Bloom Tracker includes cherry blossoms, magnolias, daffodils, azaleas, peonies, lilacs and roses. Pelham Bay Park also has Yoshino cherry trees near the City Island Bridge.
On Randall’s Island, cherry trees bloom near the island’s Urban Farm and Fields 62 and 63. Roosevelt Island, between Manhattan and Queens, has cherry trees on its West Promenade.
In Queens, Flushing Meadows Corona Park has a remarkable collection of Okame trees near the Unisphere that are usually some of the first in the city to bloom, according to the Parks Department. In Long Island City, Hunter’s Point South Park has a ring of Yoshino trees that frame the waterfront park.
The Queens Botanical Garden has trees in Cherry Circle, and Rainey Park in Astoria has its own collection of Okame and Kwanzan cherry blossoms by the East River.
In Brooklyn, Green-Wood Cemetery has a collection of 172 cherry trees. Blossoms can also be found in Prospect Park (near the Grand Army Plaza entrance) and in Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has more than 200 cherry trees, about 75 of which can be found lining its famous Cherry Esplanade. Visitors can purchase tickets to see the trees after dark during the garden’s annual Hanami Nights from April 21 to April 24.
Staten Island has trees spread throughout Conference House Park and Clove Lakes Park. There are trees on the northern side of the lake in Silver Lake Park and along Cottage Row at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden. (You can use the Staten Island Bloom Guide to find out when some of these trees will blossom.)
And if you’re up for a trip to New Jersey, Branch Brook Park in Newark boasts more than 5,300 cherry trees — one of the largest collections in the United States. The park hosts blossom talks on Wednesdays and Saturdays in April. It will also hold a celebration called Bloomfest on April 19, which will include Japanese cultural demonstrations, live music and children’s activities.
Juno Carmel, Hurubie Meko and Erin Nolan contributed reporting.
Andy Newman has reported from the New York region for The Times for more than 30 years.
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