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City Council resolution calls for Muslim school holidays: Mayor Bloomberg says no to recommendation

New York Daily News

July 1, 2009

City Council resolution calls for Muslim school holidays; Mayor Bloomberg says no to recommendation

BY Celeste Katz AND Frank Lombardi
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

After a three-year lobbying effort, the City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution Tuesday calling for school to be closed on the two holiest Muslim holidays.

But Mayor Bloomberg said he would not make the change called for in the resolution, which is nonbinding. “One of the problems you have with a diverse city,” he said, “is that if you close the schools for every single holiday, there won’t be any school.” Schools are closed for the Christian holidays Good Friday and Christmas as well as the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover. The resolution would add two Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

Advocates estimate that about 12% of the student population is Muslim. The Education Department does not keep enrollment figures by religion.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/01/2009-07-01_city_council_resolution_calls_for_muslim_school_holidays_mayor_bloomberg_says_.html?print=1&page=all#ixzz0K3lv1KVv&C

Posted on 7/3/2009 at 4:06 PM PDT