Mayor de Blasio (right, with Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña) declared Tuesday that while the Lunar New Year will be a school holiday while shooting down hopes that any other holiday will be added to the calendar.
Mayor de Blasio shut the door on any more new school holidays Tuesday- angering members of the Hindu community who want Diwali recognized.
He made the comments minutes after declaring Lunar New Year an official school holiday.
“There are many wonderful communities in this city,” he said, surrounded by students and lawmakers at a school in downtown Flushing. “I understand anyone’s impulse to add additional holidays, but at this point, I’ve kept my pledge, and I don’t intend to make any additions anytime in the foreseeable future.”
But Sheetal Shah, senior director of the Hindu American Foundation, said city officials told her in April the mayor was considering additional holidays.
“While the inclusion of the Muslim holidays and Lunar New Year is commendable, we are deeply disappointed by the mayor’s exclusion of Diwali, a festival that is celebrated by thousands of our city’s Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs,” she said. “Our community’s students continue to be forced to choose between attending school and observing this important festival.”