Hundreds of celebrants gathered at Queens Borough Hall’s Helen Marshall Cultural Center on Thursday, Jan 30, to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Queens residents from the Asian diaspora came together to celebrate the festive holiday. Many locals donned red, a symbol of prosperity, and their traditional attire, including Korean hanbok, Chinese qipao, and Vietnamese áo dài.
Celebrated by millions of people around the globe, the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, celebrates the ushering in of the spring and start of the new year on the Lunar Calendar. This year, the Lunar New Year began on Wednesday, Jan 29, and ends in mid-February. In China, the Lunar New Year is considered one of the most important holidays, and it is celebrated in a variety of Asian countries, including South Korea and Vietnam. Lunar New Year is aligned with the Chinese Zodiac, with this year representing the snake, the sixth of twelve animals that appear on the zodiac. To many, the snake represents balance, wisdom, and intelligence.
This year, New York State has notably become the first in the nation to recognize Lunar New Year as a statewide holiday, following the passage of legislation led by Assembly Member Ron Kim. In 2023, Kim successfully advocated for the holiday’s recognition as a public school holiday.
Thursday’s celebration included impressive Lion Dance and Korean Drum Dance performances by PS203Q students. Other performances included traditional Thai dancers from the Ashley Family Center and a K-pop performance by a member of the Korean American Family Center.
During the event, Justice Karen Lin and Justice Frances Wang gave remarks to the audience.
Lin explained how remarkable it was to see the transition of the Lunar New Year to a public-facing holiday. “Growing up in Queens in the 70s, the Lunar New Year was something very private and very personal, and we celebrated it in our own homes with our own families. Today, we not only celebrate it in our classrooms but also in our courtrooms and all throughout this borough, the city, and the state, and that is progress,” Lin said.
Wang thanked Borough President Richards for recognizing the diverse cultural celebrations that Queens has to offer. “We are very lucky that we live in the world’s borough where we get to celebrate everyone’s heritage and to bring us all together,” Wang said.
During the ceremony, Richards gave citations to six outstanding leaders in Queens’ Asian community. Recipients included William Wang, Health First VP Asian Markets; Michelle Wang, national governing board member of the Asian Pacific Islander Amerian Public Affairs Association (APAPA); Richard Lee, director of City Council finance division; Lana Tu, community activist; Eun Kyung-Kim, director of YWCA of Queens, and Leona Chin, founder of Kissena Synergy.
Many of the leaders spoke about their advocacy within their communities and their passion for servicing others.
For Tu, much of her volunteer work revolved around combatting anti-Asian hate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tu immigrated from Vietnam over 15 years ago and spoke of how she fought to break the mold that many expected of her when she started her career working in the U.S. government
“No one in my circle ever worked for the U.S. government; some were happy for me, while others wondered how long I would last. One person even told me I would be let go soon, saying that Vietnamese Americans could only succeed in nail salons. But here I am, eight years later, still going strong and thriving.”
Throughout the years, Tu has climbed the ranks, becoming a contract manager in her field. The role she finds most rewarding is as the founder and chair of the AAPI Heritage Committee at her agency. Under her leadership, Tu established the first Lunar New Year event at her establishment. “ It has since become an annual celebration that everyone looks forward to,” Tu said.
Kyung-Kim, a first-generation immigrant from Korea, is proud to see the growing interest in Asian cultures and increased awareness of events. Her work at the YWCA assists women and families in her community through education, social services, and food pantry support.
Borough President Richards spoke to QNS about the importance of celebrating cultural diversity in New York, as diversity initiatives have been challenged recently by the federal government. “It’s so important that we celebrate the contributions of all communities, especially the AAPI community who really thought the pandemic… faced all the attacks on this community, Richards said. “We are loud and proud, and we are unabashedly proud of being the most diverse county, and it’s more important than ever that we celebrate this,” Richards said.
Richards added that Lunar New Year celebrants should feel proud to openly celebrate the holiday. Furthermore, the borough president added that Lunar New Year’s state-wide recognition could lead to youngsters being curious about the holiday’s origins.
“The way we shed ignorance is by celebrating each other’s cultures. So the mere fact that every New York City public school child was home yesterday… they may ask their parents what is this, or have learned about it in school,” Richards said. “That’s the way we will leave generations better off because we are passing down history.”
