China News Service, February 4th. According to the official website of the New York City Council, on the 2nd local time, the New York City Council plenary meeting passed the "Lunar New Year Resolution" with 49 votes (two members were absent).
Since then, the Lunar New Year has become a statutory holiday in New York City, which is a historic moment for all Asians in New York City.
Image source: New York City Council official website screenshot
In September 2022, Christopher Marte, a city councilor representing Manhattan's first constituency, proposed Resolution 331 to the City Council in an attempt to make the Lunar New Year a statutory holiday in New York City.
The proposal was jointly supported by seven New York City councilors Sandra Ung and Crystal Hudson.
According to the Chinese website in the United States, Ma Tai said that he was very excited about the passage of the bill.
Although as early as 2015, then New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had announced that schools would need to be closed on the day of the Chinese New Year.
However, the past two Lunar New Years fell on weekends, and the New York City Department of Education did not arrange compensatory leave for students.
According to Mattei, the passage of this bill means that students in New York City are no longer the only ones who can take this day off in the future.
Municipal government departments, such as courts, banks and other staff will get a day off.
On the same day, the New York City Council also voted to pass a resolution 424 proposed by City Councilor Huang Minyi in December 2022, which called on the US Congress and President Biden to support Congressman Meng Zhaowen's proposal to designate the Chinese New Year as a federal holiday. bill.
"The passage of this resolution shows lawmakers in Washington that there is broad support for making the Lunar New Year an official holiday in a city where Asian Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic group," said Wong. Making New Year's Day a statutory holiday will be an important recognition of the contributions Asian Americans have made to this country, and an important recognition of America's cultural diversity."
Data map: On February 10, 2021 local time, the Empire State Building in New York, USA lit up red lights for the Chinese New Year.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
According to incomplete statistics, Spring Festival folk activities have entered nearly 200 countries and regions around the world.
In addition, some countries and regions include it as a legal holiday, and the Chinese New Year has become a worldwide festival symbol.
In Indonesia, the Spring Festival was listed as a national public holiday in 2002.
In October 2016, the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil officially passed a bill to list the Spring Festival as an official holiday of the state of Rio de Janeiro, making February the "Chinese New Year Commemoration Month".
On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to make the Chinese New Year a statutory holiday in California.
On December 29, 2020, the Thai cabinet meeting decided to add some special statutory holidays in 2021 to promote the development of domestic tourism, including the Chinese Lunar New Year.