Should Lunar New Year Be A NYC School Holiday?

From yesterday's Lunar New Year celebrations in Chinatown (Mary Altaffer/AP)

For a third year in a row, NY State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Queens) held a rally to make the Lunar New Year a school holiday in NYC and other parts of NY State. According to the Daily News, "Meng has introduced bills calling for schools to observe the holiday in all cities in the state with more than 1 million residents, at least 7.5% of them Asian. She has also written to the mayor's office and the city Education Department."

Meng, who received death threats from Rush Limbaugh fans, said at an event in Queens, "We're going to do this every year until this becomes a reality. We just want the same right to celebrate our holiday at home, the same as other cultures," and pointed out that some children in her district wonder why Jewish kids get the day off for their New Year, Rosh Hashanah "As a kid growing up in New York City, I actually wondered the same thing."

The Department of Education's Marge Feinberg said, "With so many religions practiced throughout our city, we have to weigh additional school closings with the need to give our kids as much time in the classroom as possible." True enough—Muslim students have been calling for the holy days of Eid-ul Adha and Eid-ul Fitr to be school holidays, but Mayor Bloomberg doesn't want kids to have any more days off. And, FWIW, here's a list of the public holidays in Hong Kong—not only are there three days off for Lunar New Year, other holidays include Buddha's Birthday, the day Hong Kong went back to China, various festivals, and more.

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By Jen Chung in News on February 4, 2011 6:12 PM

Comments [rss]

nvk

We simply don't have enough holidays, most of which are spent on gluttony rather than reflection anyway (Thanksgiving - stuff your face, Christmas - Pray to the baby Jeebus that you got a good present). People work those days too, so might as well give them more opportunities to take the day off.

diablofreak

in time it will happen... once the jews have conquered China

chelsey mcchesney

i'm not even vaguely asian, but as a former elementary school student, i support all proposed school holidays

pvbklyn

Make Superbowl Weekend a three day weekend. Most SB watchers are drunk on Monday anyway. Holiday comes from holy day. What is more holy than the Superbowl?

shocktheday

We should at least stop celebrating Christopher Columbus Day, a directionally challenged slave trader.

Rocknrope

Who is Meng doing this for? Certainly not the Asians; a day out of school is a step farther away from that Ivy League acceptance letter.

tien

Any Asian worth their salt already would have been accepted to the school they want to attend well before Lunar New Year.

Spirit of 76

I believe RnR was referring to Asian students in all grades. Most of whom are a little too young to apply to colleges. The journey to a good college takes an entire lifetime. I think Confucius wrote that. Or maybe it was Tiger Mom.

yincrash

This is a great comment thread, fellas.

GothamExtremist

If the Jews can have it, so can the C----s.

TheRealCannibal

the what? the C * U *nts? Your mom should have a holiday all her own.

GothamExtremist

Easy chief, I was talking about the Chans.

sdotlin

How about the Wongs?

GothamExtremist

They can have it too, as long as long as the two Wongs do make a Right.

Peanut_Butter

Crearly, you can't sperr either.

GothamExtremist

Yes I con!

Peanut_Butter

Dang, don't you have anything better to do on a Friday night?

I wonder if there's a Constitutional challenge in there. I mean...WTF?! What's good for the goose is good for the gander...