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Lunar New Year Is Your New NYC School Holiday
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 23, 2015
Modified Jun 23, 2015
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Scott Lynch / Gothamist
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 23, 2015
Modified Jun 23, 2015
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After adding Muslim holidays to the NYC school calendar, Mayor Bill de Blasio will finally make the Asian holiday observing the Lunar New Year a day off, too. He Tweeted last night, "Working toward a more inclusive city: Tomorrow, @nycgov will designate Lunar New Year an official @nycschools holiday."
When de Blasio announced that Eid al-Adha and al-Fitr were now holidays in March, numerous lawmakers like Rep. Grace Meng sent him a letter, "We commend you again for fulfilling your pledge to add Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha ... It is critical that you also keep your pledge to designate Lunar New Year as a school holiday."
Then last month, City Hall reportedly indicated it was too late to include Lunar New Year for 2016; Councilman Peter Koo told the Post, "All of the electeds are very angry at the mayor, and the community’s really angry. So if he doesn’t change his mind, and he’s second guessing our intentions and he’s looking at us as second class citizens, this is a free country: When the election comes, there’s consequences for that.”
Rather than face those consequences, de Blasio will be announcing the news at a school in Flushing this morning. And the NYC School Calendar has already been updated (PDF)!
The NY Times also points out, "Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, pledged to make the change during the 2013 mayoral campaign, but by agreeing to the move now, he avoids a potentially political embarrassment. With a pending bill in Albany that would have added the holiday to the calendar, the mayor faced the uncomfortable prospect of the State Legislature’s enacting his own campaign pledge for him, without the imprimatur of City Hall.
State Senator Daniel Squadron told the Daily News that 15% of school children are Asian, "It’s a big deal. Families have had to choose between their most important cultural celebration, and missing a day of school."
The next Lunar New Year is Monday, February 8. It is the Chinese Year of the Monkey.
Tagged
lunar new year
mayor de blasio
school holidays
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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