Everything you need to know about the NYC cherry blossoms

Even as a longtime New Yorker, cherry blossom season still manages to take me by surprise each year. Across the five boroughs, roughly 35,000 cherry trees burst into bloom in spring, a tradition that dates back to 1909 when Japan gave New York City the gift of sakura (the Japanese word for cherry blossom) as a symbol of friendship. New Yorkers have also embraced the practice of hanami—which literally means “flower viewing” in Japanese—as a moment of pause in an otherwise hectic city.

If you time your springtime visit to New York just right, you’ll experience this sensory overload—filled with bursts of pink and the sweet scent of blooming trees. Here is our guide to cherry blossom season, along with the best places to find these colorful trees, from the iconic to the totally unexpected.

Across the city, you’ll find more than 26 varieties of cherry blossom trees. The most common are the deep pink Okame, the pale pink-and-white Yoshino (the superstars of the cherry blossom world), and the ruffled, double-flowering Kwanzan.

Peak blooming season typically begins in mid-April and once a tree reaches peak bloom, it lasts for 10 days. But it’s never a guarantee—the trees have started blooming as early as March in recent years.

What’s the first place that comes to mind when you think of trees in New York? If your answer is Central Park, you won’t be surprised to find out that this is also a hub for cherry blossoms. The most stunning grove—an allée of 35 fluffy Kwanzan cherry trees—is on the west side of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. On the east side, you’ll find the regal Yoshino. Beyond the reservoir, Kwanzan and Yoshino varieties can be found in highest concentrations around Cherry Hill and Pilgrim Hill.

For some real drama, head to Sheep Meadow to see the weeping Higan Cherry Tree, which has white-to-pink flowers on its droopy branches that are almost transparent. Follow along with their blooming schedules at this tracker, created by the Central Park Conservancy.

Tip: While there are plenty of opportunities to experience hanami on land with picnics and strolls under the trees, it’s even more charming from a rowboat. The Central Park Boathouse—which you may know from that one scene in Sex and the City—offers boat rentals beginning in April.

What’s nearby: Central Park is packed with sightseeing wonders, but it also has some heavy history. Near the west side of the reservoir is the site where from 1825 to 1857 Seneca Village stood. Once a thriving community of predominantly African-Americans, when the park was created their land was taken by the city, citing eminent domain. At the former site you can learn more through historical markers, or opt for a tour led by the Central Park Conservancy.

The original 1909 gift from the Japanese of 2,000 cherry trees didn’t quite work out. As the story goes, the steamboat bringing them over was lost at sea (ironic—as they were supposed to arrive for an event celebrating Henry Hudson). In 1912 a second batch made it over safely, and a portion was planted in Claremont Park in Morningside Heights, which was renamed Sakura Park. Today, walking through Sakura Park during cherry blossom season is like wading through a vat of light pink cotton candy. And the fluff is not just relegated to the park: nearby, the four-mile Cherry Walk at Riverside Park spans 100th to 125th street, while at Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, they spill from the entrance at 124th Street.

Tip: While you’re in Sakura Park, look for the stone lantern (tōrō), gifted to the city in 1960, when Tokyo became sister cities with New York.

What’s nearby: You’re right next door to General Grant National Memorial so if you’re still stumped, you can finally answer the question “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?”

Even before their first cherry blossoms were planted in 1921, the powers that be at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden were leaning into the Japanese design fad of the day. Its 1915 Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is one of the first public Japanese-inspired gardens in the US. It’s no great exaggeration to say that New Yorkers wait all year to ogle the cherry blossoms in the garden, stroll the Cherry Walk, and pack blankets to lay on in the Cherry Esplanade (or, more realistically, perfect their TikTok poses with the backdrop of the blooms). And yes, if you want to know the perfect time to show up, there’s a tracker for that.

In 2024 the BBG introduced weekend entertainment programming during the length of the blooms, and it returns for 2025. There are also Hanami Nights, which give after-hours access to the Kanzan trees on the magnificent Cherry Esplanade—they’re lit up for maximum effect.

Tip: No need to pack a picnic. On Sundays from April through October Prospect Park (where the botanic garden is located) is also home to the Smorgasburg, a roaming hometown food festival with dozens of vendors selling everything from sandwiches to food on sticks. Plus an open bar.

What’s nearby: Continue your admiration of the aesthetic at the nearby Brooklyn Museum, located at the top of the park. You can’t miss it—just look for the giant yellow sculpture that spells out OY/YO (two words that you’ll often hear in Brooklyn).

For some, the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens—a vestige of the 1964 World’s Fair—is a symbol of space-age optimism. For others, the 450-ton metal structure is a worldly backdrop for shows like The King of Queens and movies like Men in Black. But for sakura seekers like myself, it’s the easiest way to pinpoint the park’s cherry blossom flower show. In 2001, the Japanese American Association of New York donated 168 Okame cherry trees to New York City, planting them in Flushing Meadows Corona Park just near the base of the sphere. According to the parks department, those trees are usually some of the first in the city to bloom.

Tip: One subway stop away near Flushing’s Main Street is the Queens Botanical Garden, which claims its own small but mighty cherry blossom crop, with some trees adopted in memory of loved ones. Find them in Cherry Circle, a winding path by the entrance.

What’s nearby: Flushing Meadows Corona Park is home to the Queens Museum, Queens Zoo, Citi Field (go Mets), and Arthur Ashe Stadium, home of the US Open. When the big tournament isn’t happening, the courts are open year-round for public use.

I arrived late to the charms of Roosevelt Island, a narrow, two-mile strip of land plopped in the river between Manhattan and Queens. Perhaps I was thrown off by its former nickname, “Welfare Island,” which it got because of all the asylums, prisons, and hospitals on the island. But these days the reinvented island is a small town oasis in the city, with 12,000 residents, an honest to god main street, and plenty of open public space, including the zen-like Louis Kahn–designed Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. Cherry blossom trees pock the Cornell Tech campus, but the money shot is the deep-hued sakura that line the riverside promenade facing Manhattan. Park yourself on one of the benches below, for peaceful hanami viewing with a side of city views.

Tip: Like many places in the city, you can get to Roosevelt Island by subway, bus, and even ferry. But it’s the only place in the city where you can take an aerial, tomato red tram, and for the cost of a regular subway ride at that (it takes MTA Metrocards and OMNY). Pick it up 59th Street and Second Avenue.

What’s nearby: On the island is the Graduate by Hilton New York hotel, whose Panorama Room rooftop bar is a destination in itself, featuring a massive marble-topped bar and 360-degree views—best enjoyed with a cocktail in hand.

You’d think with a name like New York Botanical Garden, you’d find it in a more central location. But it’s worth the trek to the Bronx for the sheer variety of flora throughout its 50 gardens and feeling like you’re in a true forest. You’ll find cherry blossoms all over the park, but the most striking flowers are the pink and white blooms along the path to the garden’s Cherry collection. Of course there is a bloom tracker (New Yorkers are nothing if not efficient) for this and many other flowers in the NYBG. You’ll see magnolias, azaleas, lilacs, and my personal favorite here, the thousands of daffodils—on their way to being a million—that blanket Daffodil Hill in April.

Tip: Within the garden you’ll find the Mertz Library, a lovely 1899 building that houses the largest collection of botanical literature in the Western Hemisphere. There are often cool exhibitions of rare books and artifacts. You’ll find it by following Tulip Tree Allée to the Renaissance Revival structure.

What’s nearby: Grab a snack on Arthur Avenue, also known as Bronx’s Little Italy. I’m partial to the sfogliatelle at De Lillo Pastry Shop.

In Brooklyn, Green-Wood Cemetery is not only my favorite place to see cherry blossoms, it’s my favorite “park” in the whole of New York City. Founded in 1838, its meandering layout is so gorgeous it inspired a competition to design both Prospect Park and Central Park. Visit and you’ll see what I mean—its acreage includes rolling hills, multiple ponds, and an abundance of wildlife (it’s a top spot for birdwatchers).

Green-Wood is also a noted arboretum, with some plants pre-dating the cemetery’s founding. Its cherry blossom trees date back to the early 1920s, and the largest concentration is found at Battle Hill and Valley Water, where the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn is commemorated. They’re planted along Battle Avenue—and poetically, when the petals flutter to the ground, they symbolize soldiers felled by war.

Tip: Green-Wood is also a great place for sightseeing, as strange as that is to say. Among its 570,000 residents are notables including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Leonard Bernstein, and William “Bill the Butcher” Poole.

What’s nearby: Just a short walk away is Industry City, where warehouse blocks have been turned into a thriving restaurant and shopping ecosystem. One venue to check out is Japan Village, a supermarket and food hall that sometimes partners with Green-Wood for after-hours hanami nights.