Lunar New Year will soon be a school holiday in New York City

Lunar New Year celebrations.
(Image credit: Feng Li/Getty Images)

In 2016, New York City students will have the opportunity to celebrate another official holiday with a day off from school: Lunar New Year.

Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Monday that the school system will recognize the Lunar New Year beginning next year, NBC New York reports. The mayor is expected to officially announce the decision on Tuesday. Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian communities, and one-sixth of the 1.1 million public school students in the city are of Asian descent. Earlier this year, de Blasio said schools would also honor the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Firt and Eid al-Adha.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.