SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The cherry blossoms ringing the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., hog all the attention, but reporter and New Yorker Jeff Lunden found more cherry trees much closer to home - in Newark.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: For a city dweller like me, the easiest way to get to Branch Brook Park is on Newark's light rail. And once you exit the station, you're transported into an urban oasis.
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LUNDEN: Seemingly everywhere, there are trees with white and pink blossoms and people taking pictures and videos.
PERRY CONCEPCION: My name's Perry Concepcion (ph), and I'm from Livingston, New Jersey. And today, I decided to come to Branch Brook Park because I worked all weekend. I'm a server and a bartender. And so is my friend Jen (ph) over here.
LUNDEN: I spotted the pair lying in tie-dyed hammocks.
CONCEPCION: So I decided to bring it and enjoy the cherry blossoms front row.
THOMAS B DOUGHERTY JR: We have over 5,300 Japanese flower and cherry blossom trees in 18 varieties.
LUNDEN: Thomas B. Dougherty Jr. is president of the Branch Brook Park Alliance, a nonprofit conservancy that partners with Essex County to help support this 360-acre park.
DOUGHERTY: We have the largest and most diverse collection in the United States in a concentrated area.
LUNDEN: And for 50 years, every April, there's been a cherry blossom festival.
DOUGHERTY: You know, after the civil unrest in Newark in the '60s, the Parks Commission was looking for ways in which to galvanize the community in this park to celebrate the cherry blossoms in bloom and embracing all walks of life to come together in the joy and the renewal of spring.
LUNDEN: Dougherty, who helps oversee 4,000 volunteers, says the cherry blossoms first came to Newark in the 1920s when the owner of a department store visited Japan and made a generous gift.
DOUGHERTY: So in 1927, she came back and made an offer to the Parks Commission that they just couldn't refuse, and that was she would pay for and import the first 2,000 Japanese flower and cherry blossom trees.
LUNDEN: With many schools in New Jersey and New York on spring break, the park was filled with families. Sharon Sozio (ph), her husband and two children traveled from Staten Island.
SHARON SOZIO: We came here to check out the cherry blossoms. My kids love the cherry blossoms. But...
LUNDEN: Do you come here every year?
SOZIO: This is our first time here.
LUNDEN: So how did you find out about the cherry blossoms?
SOZIO: On TikTok. People were posting videos that they came here and it looked beautiful. And my kids saw it and they said they wanted to come.
LUNDEN: Some people make it an annual pilgrimage like Ashley (ph) and Trevor Post (ph), who had one of their first dates at Branch Brook Park, and we're celebrating Ashley's birthday.
TREVOR POST: A lot of our springtime has revolved around cherry blossoms. We actually got engaged at the cherry blossoms down in D.C., a couple of years ago. So it's nice to do and something that she loves, so make sure to do it for her every year.
LUNDEN: If Newark's too far to visit, you can always see videos of the cherry blossoms on TikTok.
For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in Newark, New Jersey. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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