Juneteenth Will Become Official NYC Holiday, Mayor Announces

NEW YORK CITY — Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the hard-fought liberation of enslaved Black Americans 155 years ago, will become an official New York City holiday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

De Blasio will sign an executive order Friday to make Juneteenth an official school holiday and, in the year ahead, will work with its labor unions, uniformed agencies and city workers to ensure the day is celebrated, the mayor said.

"This is just a beginning to acknowledge this holiday," de Blasio said. "But we have a lot more to do."

Read More: NYC Juneteenth: Where To Rally, March And Celebrate

This year, public schools teachers have been given lesson plan and discussion plans to explore the history of Juneteenth, when Texas acknowledged the Emancipation Proclamation and declared, on June 19, 1865, "All slaves are free."

De Blasio also revealed which New York City streets will bear the message, "Black Lives Matter."

• Centre Street in Manhattan
• Richmond Terrace in Staten Island
• Joralemon Street in Brooklyn
• 153rd Street in Queens
• Morris Avenue in The Bronx

The mayor also threw his support behind calls from City Council to remove the Thomas Jefferson memorial from its chambers, announcing a commission to explore racial justice and reconciliation commission to examine inequalities in city agencies.

Asked about other New York City monuments that celebrate slave owners — such as President George Washington and Archibald Gracie, whose name appears on the mayor's mansion — de Blasio said he would look to his new task force for guidance.

"You're not going to be shocked to find out many of them had contradictions," de Blasio said of the memorialized men.

"The point is in many nations and many societies, people have been forced to readdress their symbols."