Diwali An Official Holiday In New York School Calendar From This Year

New Delhi: Diwali will now be an official school holiday in New York City beginning this year, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday. State Assembly and the State Senate of New York passed the bill making Diwali a New York City Public School holiday.

We feel optimistic that Governor Cathy Hochul is going to sign this bill into law, Mayor Eric added at a special announcement from the City Hall. If made a law, Diwali holiday will replace Brooklyn-Queens Day in the school calendar. Under the Diwali Day Act, Diwali would become the 12th federally recognised holiday in the United States.

The South Asian and Indo-Caribbean community have made concerted efforts for this moment for the last two decades, said New York Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar, the first Indian-American woman ever elected to a New York State office.

At least 6,00,000 Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains living in New York City apart from people from Guyana, Trinidad, Nepal, and Bangladesh celebrate Diwali.