Outside of Branch Brook Park in Newark, you can find streets where abandoned houses and broken bottles embody the Newark shown in the media—the setting of crime waiting to happen. Inside the park, you see the most beautiful cherry blossoms on the East Coast. Different shades of pink blossoms, from varieties of trees like the Weeping Japanese and Shirofugen, are everywhere. The green grass and the scenery create peacefulness in a chaotic city. Walking through the park, groups of people are taking photos with their digital cameras and cell phones. One would not believe that Branch Brook Park would be able to bring so many people, of all nationalities, to a city that many individuals try to avoid.
The Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual event hosted in Branch Brook Park. In 2008, the event marks its 32nd year. According to NJ.com, the festival brings in about 100,000 people a year, which rivals Washington, D.C.’s annual National Cherry Blossom Festival audience.
With the cherry blossoms as the main attraction, it’s difficult to find someone willing to step away from the picturesque flowers and be interviewed. At first glance, Getro Maceno seems to be the park’s “big man on campus.” Maceno, a thirtysomething originally from Haiti and now living in Essex County, is nonchalantly having conversations with strangers while he and his son ride their bikes.
He smiles when he describes the festival’s impact on the city. “Newark used to be the capital city of crime. I think the city is going in a positive way right now.” The festival is one of the few reasons why he comes to Newark, and the various nationalities represented by the visitors is a huge plus, he says. “On a positive, I think it brings a lot of people from outside the city to visit the city and get a feel for the city.”
Along with the beautiful flowers to gaze at, trout are stocked in Branch Brook Lake for people to catch. With the odor and the unclear water, it doesn’t seem like the ideal place to go fishing. However, 40-year-old East Orange native Christopher Williams seems OK with it. “The water is not bad,” he says, “It’s the people who just throw the trash in there.” Williams came here to relax, fish and enjoy the view of the cherry blossoms. He visits the festival and the park often and definitely notices the big changes when the festival comes around, “There’s never been a crowd like this.” But Williams says you can tell the visitors are not from Newark.
Williams has lived in Newark for a long time and has family here, so he is well aware of the crime and violence associated with the city. Despite improvements being made in the city, such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and now the Prudential Center, Williams says, “they’re trying to make improvements, but it doesn’t change Newark.”
The Cherry Blossom Festival is one of Newark’s main attractions. It brings in people and plays a role in reviving the city’s life, which is repeatedly hurt by violence and crime. The festival continues to be a huge part of the city’s renaissance.
Ashley-Nicole Weatherington is a Rutgers-Newark student. Posted September 2008.
