\u201cThey like to snap the flower off the tree, or I\u2019ve actually seen someone take a branch off,\u201d said Jennifer Engstler, who has lived on the island for 23 years. \u201cI\u2019ve seen people crawl on the trees like kids, or they hang from them. It just \u2014 it drives me crazy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Cherry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040826_roosevelt_island_cherry_blossoms-6.jpg\")
Cherry blossoms bloom on Roosevelt Island, April 8, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
Engstler is the island\u2019s resident behind the initiative to safeguard the trees, where volunteers in neon pink vests and sunglasses patrol the rows of cherries to intercept people shaking, pulling down or snapping the branches to bring down the blooms.<\/p>\n
She raised the idea for the blossom protector crew during a community meeting last year, feeling that signs asking people to respect the cherry trees were not enough to enforce good behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can put all the signs up in the world that you want,\u201d Engstler said. \u201cI think a majority of the people are respectful, but you only need a few people to ruin a tree.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When people shake and pull at branches, they could break off limbs, weaken the tree or speed up the flowers\u2019 expiration date. Touching and rattling them leaves fewer petals for others to enjoy. Instead, visitors should let the brief springtime blooms happen untouched, and the petals fall on their own, experts say.<\/p>\n
![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040826_roosevelt_island_cherry_blossoms-4.jpg\")
President and CEO of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation B.J. Jones wears the pink sunglasses given to the island\u2019s \u201cpetal protectors,\u201d April 8, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, the quasi-state agency that manages the island, took Engstler\u2019s idea and launched the Petals Protector Initiative<\/a>, bringing it back for this spring season after it received positive feedback from residents, said RIOC communications director Bryant Daniels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn Roosevelt Island, people are very invested in their neighborhood and doing their part to keep the island special,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to make sure we are protecting the cherry blossoms for future generations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Island\u2019s \u2018Living Treasures\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Volunteers in their bright uniforms stroll for two-hour shifts, handing out \u201cprotect the cherry blossom\u201d fliers that include a map of the island\u2019s trees and a QR code to its local businesses. As a thank you, they can keep their reflective pink shades when done.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Daniels, 26 people have signed up to protect the cherry blossoms this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Petal Protector Romeo Cayanan, 67, who has lived on the island for 10 years, said the cherry blossoms were its \u201cliving treasures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The brief time the trees bloom motivated him to do what he can to preserve them. \u201cIt\u2019s only like for two weeks, so we have to enjoy them,\u201d Cayanan said, \u201cand it\u2019s free!\u201d<\/p>\n Another volunteer, Kavita Rani, 31, had never seen cherry blossoms before this season. She moved to the United States from India nearly three years ago, but as a new Roosevelt Island resident, this is her first time living where cherry blossoms bloom.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so dead,\u201d she said, \u201cand suddenly it\u2019s so beautiful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Petal Protectors THE CITY spoke with said most of the island\u2019s visitors behaved around the blossoms and listened when asked to look, but not touch, the flowering trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI realized that people really get excited when they see such a beautiful plant,\u201d Rani said. \u201cSometimes, in their excitement, they would touch the blossoms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But when Rani would politely ask transgressors to stop, she said, \u201cI didn\u2019t expect that it would be so easy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To her surprise, she told THE CITY, \u201cpeople were really receptive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Zell, an Astoria resident, used a tripod to take pictures and videos of himself beneath the trees on a recent weekday, donning a kimono the same shade as the petals swaying over his head.<\/p>\n \u201cI just really like cherry blossoms,\u201d he said, having lived in Guam, where he made frequent trips to Japan, another famous cherry blossom hotspot. \u201cI grew up with a fondness for them.\u201d<\/p>\n The Protector Pledge<\/p>\n Although trees are blooming throughout the five boroughs<\/a>, Roosevelt Island is the only area in New York City with people trained to safeguard the blossoms. Elsewhere in the country, however, those efforts have budded.\u00a0<\/p>\n Volunteers sign up to preserve the cherry trees exist in New Jersey<\/a> and on the National Mall in Washington, D.C<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have found that educating visitors in best practices for taking care of the cherry trees is the best way to ensure their longtime health,\u201d said Mike Litterst, chief of communications for the National Mall and Memorial Parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n The campaign includes encouraging people, especially children, to take the cherry blossom protector pledge:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI will protect the trees<\/p>\n For they cannot speak<\/p>\n I will take pictures<\/p>\n Not blossoms<\/p>\n So they may remain<\/p>\n For you and me<\/p>\n And for the future\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKids especially get into it,\u201d Litterst said. \u201cA lot of them take it to heart like they\u2019ve been deputized. They yell at adults who are picking at the blossoms and dragging at the tree branches.\u201d<\/p>\n A Boom in Visitors for the Blossoms<\/p>\n The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation hopes visitors explore beyond the cherry blossoms when they come to the island.<\/p>\n \u201cRoosevelt Island has great public space, and right now the cherry blossoms are the stars,\u201d said B.J. Jones, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation\u2019s CEO. \u201cBut there\u2019s so much that the island offers,\u201d he said, including a memorial to the reporter Nellie Bly<\/a> \u2014 namesake of THE CITY\u2019s own beloved pigeon<\/a>, by the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the Corporation encourages tourism, residents like Engstler are forced to grapple with the influx of visitors on the serene island she calls home.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur island has become a lot more popular,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful. I understand why people want to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Cherry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040826_roosevelt_island_cherry_blossoms-5.jpg\")
Cherry blossoms bloom on Roosevelt Island, April 8, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040826_roosevelt_island_cherry_blossoms-2.jpg\")
People enjoy blooming cherry blossoms on Roosevelt Island, April 8, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"Cherry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775914271_546_E2A6848.jpg\")
Cherry tree in full bloom at Herbert Von King park in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, April 3, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/E2A7848.jpg\")
May Cabonong poses for a picture along the Roosevelt Island cherry blossom esplanade, April 8, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n