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All NY State public schools close for Lunar New Year for first time in 2025

January 23, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
Assemblyman William Colton
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STATEWIDE AND BENSONHURST — WHEN THE LUNAR NEW YEAR KICKS OFF THIS YEAR on Wednesday, Jan. 29, public schools across the state of New York will be closed for the holiday, thanks to Assemblymember William Colton’s bill that was signed into law in 2023. Colton sponsored the bill, which added the first day of the Asian Lunar New Year to the state’s calendar of public school holidays. The holiday marks the first new moon of the lunar calendar and usually falls between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20. The first day of Lunar New Year was designated a public school holiday in New York City in 2015. Colton explained, “AAPI families living in other municipalities found themselves forced to choose between academic requirements and celebrating an auspicious occasion as a family. Thanks to our legislation, this is no longer the case.” In 2024, the first day of the Lunar New Year fell on a weekend, so 2025 will be the first year that the law will have a practical impact throughout the state.

“Our diversity is our strength,” Colton said, “and the more opportunities we can provide for cultural awareness, the easier it is to promote acceptance and inclusion, and importantly, combat the twin scourges of hate and prejudice.”

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