New York City: Spring

Fri, May 24, 2019

Springtime in NYC is often overlooked for autumn and the winter holidays, and it wasn’t until I lived here that I realized how wonderful springtime is in the city! New York is full of gardens, as big as the rolling 250 acres of New York Botanical Garden and as small the West Side Community Garden, tucked away between brownstones on W 89th St. Tulips and cherry blossoms grow like weeds in this city and come late April, it seems the whole city is bursting with blooms! The air smells like peonies and dew and all you need is a light jacket…can you tell I love springtime?

The best time to visit New York for optimal spring weather and peak blooms is the last weekend in April or the first weekend in May. This is usually when the tulips are on their way out and the cherry blossoms are on their way in and you’ll get to see them both in all their glory! The weather this time of the year is usually mid 60’s and perfect for jeans and a t-shirt or dress and a jacket. Obviously, the best part of spring is the weather and the gardens, so below I will list the best ones to visit during your time here. And because the weather is so pleasant outside, a lot of the activities I would recommend for spring are the same that I would recommend for summer. So for this blog post, I will stick to spring specific activities like the city gardens, but you should also reference my NYC summer blog post when I post it in June for a more general list of things to do in spring as well!

Things To Do

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is known for it’s cherry blossom season. They even have a daily update on their website on the status of the cherry blossom to see how they are coming along so you can plan your trip there accordingly. Although their cherry blossom collection is famous, BBG’s tulips are incredible and worth going for alone! Also worth mentioning, right outside of the garden is one of my favorite neighborhoods, Park Slope. Stop for a coffee at Cafe Grumpy or brunch at Brunswick, and walk around this beautiful neighborhood.
Conservatory Garden in Central Park has got to be the best kept secret in Central Park. It’s only on E 105th St. but you would think it’s on Mars with how infrequently I’ve heard of other people spending time there! It is the most beautiful oasis and worth visiting in every season (my favorites area is the Burnett Fountain).
West Side Community Garden, is a tiny garden tucked in between brownstones on W 89th St. and across the street from the prettiest public school in the country (just my unbiased opinion). Every year this community puts on a tulip festival and I haven’t missed a year since I found out about it! It’s usually the last two weekends in April but check their website for details.
New York Botanical Garden is a reeeeally big garden in the Bronx that boasts hundreds of acres of green space. We went this year for their “Spring Uncorked” event which was wine tasting in the gardens with live music and farmer’s market food. It was such fun event and they have different things like this all year-round! Their rose garden was especially beautiful, I can’t wait to go back!
The 91st St. garden “The Garden People” in Riverside Park is most famous for being the spring garden in bloom behind Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks when they finally kiss at the end of “You’ve Got Mail” but it’s worth a visit for even more than that! Just a few blocks past this adorable garden are some stunning cherry blossom trees as well. It’s free and easy and a must see in the spring!
Bridle Path next to the Jacklyn Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (on the west side of the park) in Central Park has some of my favorite cherry blossom collections I’ve ever seen! They are planted on either side of a footpath near the water and create a barrel effect, almost like you’re in a wave of pink blossoms, it’s magical and never busy!
Washington Square Park is popular all year-round, but I especially love it in the spring because of their pink magnolia trees! Grab a coffee at Stumptown or Irving Farm nearby and walk around to see the blooms and all the other fun stuff going on at WSP.
Park Avenue, specifically on the Upper East Side (between E 65th St. & E 85th St), is a NYC spring highlight! They fill the avenue with thousands of tulips and it’s so beautiful to walk up and down, peering into all the high end stores, and admiring all the tulips along the way.
Central Park is full of beauty year-round, and spring is no exception. I already mentioned two places in CP worth checking out (near the reservoir and the Conservatory Garden) but here are a few other parts of the park to check out to see all it’s spring colors. Shakespeare Garden is stunning, so so many tulips! The area around the Bethesda Fountain and Bow Bridge also have flowering magnolia, crabapple, and cherry blossom trees. Most of the reservoir path itself (separate from the Bridle Path) is surrounded by cherry blossoms and so beautiful to run or walk around. And finally, the entrance to the park called the “Women’s Gate” at W 72nd St. has a great collection of tulips and flowering trees as well.