New York, New York – Today, Assemblymember Grace Lee, Chair of the New York State Assembly Asian Pacific Islander Task Force, held a press conference at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) in Manhattan to celebrate her historic efforts in making Lunar New Year a public holiday. This year marks the first time in New York history that schools statewide will be closed to celebrate Lunar New Year. Assemblymember Lee honored supporters of the bill when the bill was introduced in 2023 including leadership from CCBA, Welcome to Chinatown, Confucius Plaza Board, Lee Family Association, Chinatown Manpower Project, UA3, On Leong Chinese Merchants Association, American Health Care Association, Chinatown East Neighborhood Council, Ling Sing Association, Hoy Sun Ning Yung Association, and State Committee Members Vic Lee and Wei-Li Tjong..

"I am incredibly proud to have led the effort to pass the bill making Lunar New Year a recognized school holiday in New York,” said Assemblymember Grace Lee, Chair of the Asian Pacific American Task Force. “This year, New York public school students will be the first in the nation to have this important day off. For years, the Asian American community has been advocating for this recognition, and it took persistence, hard work, and collaboration to finally make it happen. Next Wednesday, families like mine won’t have to choose between celebrating Lunar New Year and sending their children to school. This bill’s passage is a powerful recognition that Asian Americans are New Yorkers, we belong here, and our cultural contributions are an integral part of this city. With this holiday, we honor and celebrate the incredible diversity that makes New York so vibrant and unique."

“Today is a good day," said Tony Chuy, President of CCBA. It’s because of Assemblymember Grace Lee that we get to have this good day. She and I will continue to work hard for the Asian American community together.”

“We appreciate Assemblymember Lee's efforts to promote Lunar New Year as a public school holiday, " said Lok Song Mui, Chair of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of New York. This holiday recognizes Chinese culture and promotes diversity across the state of New York.”

“Growing up and attending elementary school in Chinatown, I always found it ridiculous that we were never given the Lunar New Year as a school holiday, despite the fact that virtually all the students and teachers were Chinese,” said Wei-Li Tjong, Democratic State Committee member for AD65. Because of the hard work of Grace Lee, her team, and her allies in the State legislature, now Asian American students have something very important to celebrate and to share with all their friends. I’m very proud to be here to share this achievement.”

I cut school one day every year from elementary school to college just to celebrate Lunar New Year,” said George Lee, representing the Lee Family Association. This year, it's finally going to be a day off for all New York State students. Having this holiday puts the Asian community on the map, it acknowledges us, recognizes us and most importantly it validates us. We are deeply grateful for Assemblymember Grace Lee’s leadership, and hope to continue working with her in the future. I’m glad to be in the trenches with her.”

“One of the biggest questions I had growing up as an Asian American student was why don’t we have one holiday, just for us?," said Tom Lo, Chairman of Confucius Plaza Association.

Lunar New Year is not just for Chinese people, it’s for Japanese and Korean Americans too. Today it’s New York but tomorrow it could be Louisiana. Hopefully today is just the start of the rest of the United States recognizing the Asian community.”