By Michael V. Cusenza
Diwali, the pan-religious Festival of Lights, is now an official City public school holiday, Mayor Eric Adams announced this week.
“This is what victory looks like. This is what victory feels like. For over two decades, the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean community has fought for this moment. People said this day would never come, but today we stand victorious inside of City Hall. Our time has come, and we have arrived at the table of power,” Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Woodhaven) said on Monday. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is to be enshrined in law. Diwali, at last, will be a holiday in our great city. So today we say to over 600,000 Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain Americans across New York City, we see you. Today we say to families from India, Guyana, Trinidad, Nepal, and Bangladesh, we recognize you. Families just like mine. My family is like every South Asian family standing behind me today.”
City Councilwoman Joann Ariola said that “making Diwali a school holiday was something promised by many administrations and by many politicians in the past. It took THIS administration, THIS City Council, and THIS State Senate and Assembly to actually get this done. I am proud to be a sponsor on Res 0164, which calls upon City Schools to officially make Diwali a school holiday in NYC, and I would like to thank my partners in government, Assemblywoman Rajkumar and State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Woodhaven), for everything they did to make this historic milestone come to fruition.”
Addabbo noted that the bill calling for Diwali to become a public school holiday passed unanimously in the State Senate.
“[A]nd rightfully so,” he added. “Proving once again that Diwali has no boundaries. Diwali has no boundaries. It is to be celebrated by all. And I also want to thank my South Asian community, my South Asian friends. Thank you. Because for a person who’s truly not South Asian, welcome me into the community, educating me about Diwali, why this is so important is because you spoke out, that’s the perfect snapshot of how government should work, on a daily basis. People speak out, elected officials listen, we act, that’s how it should work. So thank you.
“And who couldn’t embrace the message of Diwali?” Addabbo continued, “Light over darkness, good over evil, to face one’s challenges. That is the message of Diwali, and that’s the message that we should have each and every day, every one of us. And so the message of Diwali rings true not just on one day or five days of the calendar year, but each and every day we should have that message about facing our challenges. Good over evil. And Mr. Mayor, again, thank you because once again, you’re paving the road for this great city, the city of inclusion. We don’t exclude anyone, we take everyone on board. We are the city of inclusion, we are the greatest city in the world. Thank you so much everyone, God bless you all. Thank you.”
