From the Daily News:
A QUEENS lawmaker is hoping that the third time's the charm when it comes to city schools honoring Lunar New Year.
Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) was joined by two dozen Queens students to ask city and state officials for the third year in a row to close schools on the most important Asian holiday of the year.
"We're going to do this every year until this becomes a reality," Meng vowed during Wednesday's rally at Public School 244 in Flushing. "We just want the same right to celebrate our holiday at home, the same as other cultures."
The Year of the Rabbit began yesterday, and the holiday is celebrated with large family gatherings. Alternate-side parking rules are suspended that day.
Asians make up about 12% of the city's population and 22% in Queens, according to the 2009 American Community Survey.
A lot of children in the community question why their Jewish friends get to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at home but they have to go to school, Meng said.
Christine Colligan, president of the Korean-American Parents Association of Greater New York, said not observing the holiday forces kids to choose between their heritage and school. She noted that the "vast majority" of Asian students are absent that day.