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The Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, officially kicks off this Wednesday, and the city is gearing up for all types of celebrations: the best things to do for Lunar New Year include shopping your way through Chinatown, snagging awesome deals at the Tangram mall in Flushing, catching the Lunar Year parade, indulging in themed restaurant specials and watching an all-Asian drag queen show in Bushwick, among plenty of other fun activities.
It turns out that local students will also get to celebrate during the day, as NYC schools will be closed on Wednesday, January 29, in observance of Chinese New Year. Schools will officially reopen the next day, Thursday, January 30.
Lunar New Year-related school closings haven’t always been the norm around here, though. Back in September 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation designating the day as an official holiday for public schools across the state, making this the second year in a row only that students have the day off.
In 2025, the days-long celebration will focus on the year of the snake. In case you were wondering, the Lunar New Year is based on the extremely intricate Chinese zodiac cycle, which celebrates a different animal annually, each one associated with one of the five elements. The last time we celebrated the year of the snake was back in 2013, so it has been quite some time.
Enjoy your day off, kids! Go out and celebrate!