NYC Students Might Get St. Patrick's Day Off Next Year

NEW YORK, NY — New York City public school students could get St. Patrick's Day off next year, in which case they'll be able to take shelter like the rest of us amid the deluge of drunken debauchery.

The Village Voice reports that one of the few bills that the New York state senate actually managed to pass this week is one that would make March 17 a holiday in New York City public schools.

Tony Avella, a state senator from Queens, is sponsoring the bill, which would make the 17th of March a school holiday for city school districts with more than one million students and with Irish-American population of 7.5 percent or more — that is, New York City. The bill has passed the state senate, but it remains to be seen how it'll fare in the state assembly.

"Two years ago when we passed the Lunar New Year school holiday...it occurred to me, all these years we have had St. Patrick's Day in New York City, it's a huge holiday not just for the Irish but for all New Yorkers. Why have we never given consideration to making that a school holiday?" Avella, of the Independent Democratic Conference, told the Voice. "If anyone deserved to have a holiday based on long standing tradition, it certainly is the Irish-American community."

The bill passed the state senate and was delivered to the state assembly last week.

This post has been updated with additional information.