The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cherry Blossom Festival has been a popular event since its beginning in 1982. It's been a New York "rite of spring" for the past quarter-century.

http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/sakura.html
Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival)
Saturday, April 29, and Sunday, April 30, 2006, 10 a.m. — 6 p.m

New York City's "rite of spring" celebrates 25 years! With over 200 trees in bloom, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's flowering cherries take center stage during this phenomenal weekend celebrating Japanese culture. Enjoy over 60 events and performances, including traditional music and dance, taiko drumming, ikebana flower arranging, cooking demonstrations, tea ceremonies, craft demonstrations, and workshops for both adults and children. New events include 60s-inspired Japanese pop grooves by famed musical sensations Gaijin a Go-Go, workshops in tofu making and calligraphy art, displays of geta shoes and other arts from Inuyama, and a kimono fashion show. New events especially for kids include book readings, puppet shows, CosPlay, and workshops in Japanese classical dance.

3 May 1982, New York Times, pg. B1:
Japan's Cherry Festival
Re-created in Brooklyn
By SUSAN CHIRA
(...)
A group of Japanese, Japanese-Americans and Brooklyn Botanic Garden officials have worked to re-create the festival's Japanese environment in the heart of New york. The 60-acre Botanic Garden at 1000 Washington Avenue contains the Charry Esplanade, with rows of cherry trees sent from Japan, a re-creation of the stone garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto and another garden designed by Takeo Shiota, a master Japanese landscape architect.

1 May 1983, New York Times, pg. A40:
20,000 Visit Botanic Garden
As Cherry Blossoms Bloom