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“On the streets, they actually call him the Hindu mayor. He does it all — the plant based diet, the meditation,” she joked…. This is not a funny joke

If they give off holidays for one faith or background, they should give off for all, or none

>better known to old-timers as “Brooklyn-Queens Day”

>old-timers

>old

Piss off kid.

Schools were closed for Yom Kippur, and will be closed for Passover, Good Friday and Eid al-Fitr later this year.

Ok? I wasn't saying not to give off for holidays. I was saying they shouldn't pick and choose which ones

As noted, they give off important holidays across religions.

I mean I recently found my first grey hair, so I guess it kinda rings true

Yeah, no Eastern Orthodox Christmas? No St. Patrick's Day? What a bunch of racists.

I discovered the Patel Brothers market earlier this year and have been eating my way through every region of India and now Pakistan.

I never called anyone a racist but I appreciate you putting words in my mouth.

> “It is long overdue to say to our Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist students and communities that we see you, we acknowledge you,”

This is a good thing. They should acknowledge/celebrate other holidays as well. So, the opposite of racist?

I'm pretty sure Russian and Irish are not races, so perhaps I was being sarcastic to indicate that there are a number of groups that don't have a specific holiday off and if they gave off for every holiday that existed, there would be no school ever.

They're not even adding Diwali to the calendar, they're swapping it out for an existing holiday.

I laughed (I’m Hindu)

you aren't saying anything at all really. they ARE giving off for special holidays for all religions—of course they pick special ones or they wouldn't meet the minimum required in-school days....

St Patrick’s isn’t a real holiday.. they have no idea over there wtf we are celebrating on that day. Also it’s about student populations. The south Asian population is quite large in the north east. Cities up and down the east coast close schools for Diwali. No point keeping a school open if there aren’t any students. Diwali is celebrated by billions worldwide..

Fuck yeah

this man comes into a kitchen while people are trying to feed hungry kids with a box of powdered potatoes and puts a parsley leaf on top and wants us to believe he's doing his job.

They do basically

There are a few school systems in the suburbs that already have Dwali off. We're talking very white Long Island. One uses it for internal meetings.

Still this is Reddit so you'll always have someone saying something stupid and this thread didn't disappoint.

Indo-Pak grocery stores are absolute gold mines for spices. You can get big ol bags of whole spices for wayyyyyy cheaper than that McCormick garbage you get gouged for in standard stores.

The closest Patel Brothers to me is in Bellerose. The one in Jackson Heights is too far. You should also check out Maharaja Farmers Market in both Bellerose and Hicksville. I suggest you go to the one in Hicksville. The store is bigger and they have a better selection of items. They also have other international products as well.

I've noticed that as well. The spices at a regular market are stupid expensive.

Sure, give Diwali off, but also keep Brooklyn-Queens Day. Just extend the school year by a day in June to keep the 180.

<3

Good. Diwali is awesome.

I generally try to do a little research before buying spices: https://journals.lww.com/jphmp/fulltext/2019/01001/a_spoonful_of_lead__a_10_year_look_at_spices_as_a.11.aspx

Can we get February 27 too?

someone forgot about lunar new year closures

If we can have a holiday in March that sounds great, otherwise let's keep kids in school. We don't need another day off in June.

> This is not a funny joke

Someone call the cops

My Indian peeps tell me Patel is legit.

Also, what cooler holiday could you add? Diwali 👌🏽 Holi 👌🏽 Susan B Anthony day? Nah. Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe? First day of the Succubus? Nahhhh.

Was it yours, or just vacuuming the sofa?

good, our kids are too smart. give them more time off

I’m surprised by the positive feedback on this news

The DOE should just offer cultural days that anyone can take off with notice. If enough of the school system calls out, then the entire system has a day off

It’s always a cozy day to get off! I like the vibez . We homo this holiday in Jersey .

So put on your saris It's time to celebrate Diwali

did post readers melt down in the comments yet? 😂

We’ve been getting spice gouged at supermarkets for years. Patel Bros, Apna Bazaar, and halal markets are the way to go!

mashallah

Yea, check country of origin on that stuff.

Places like Patel Brothers actually package a lot of their own stuff, so a surprising amount is from the US, but not all. I think most of the lead is really from specific countries with low amounts of regulation. Unfortunately, it means for the exotic spices, very often you're stuck getting it from a source that might not have many regulations in it's supply chain.

You can thank The Office for this.

He’s not even a vegan.

It's on a Sunday next year so no one will notice til 2024, when it's on November 1st, and all the Catholics can claim kids are off for All Saints Day.

Neither are the vast majority of Hindus.

Fine but improve the samosas. It's just chocolate, graham cracker and marshmallow. How hard can it be?

Indian Americans make up just 3% of the city’s population. So what % would be required to shut the school down? What’s difficult about this situation is that everyone loses the school day but a small number of students actually need the day off.

This is all fine as long as the days are made up. Otherwise it can become a virtually endless parade of required holidays that becomes disruptive to education, and specifically and disproportionately would affect NYC public school students because of the city’s diversity.

So I was today years old when I learned that diwali is a holiday. Also, that it's not pronounced as if there are two Wally's (I googled: its DIH-Wally, apparently -- just say Dear Wally, and take away the R in dear). And while I'm perfectly happy to add another holiday, doesn't it seem like, at this point, if you add one you need to take one away -- you can't have every day be a holiday or nothing will ever get done! I'm fine with removing Thanksgiving for Diwali (does anybody in the failed state known as the US have anything to be thankful for? -- I thought not) or X-mas for example. I still don't quite know what it celebrates (tried the wiki article, but tldr -- something to do with having lights; why not just call it Thomas Edison Day?).

Does adding all these holidays to the calendar extend the school year? Because Catholic schools end in early June while NYC public schools almost end in July.

Catholic schools do not have to abide by the state’s # of days mandate tho. Went to catholic school all my life and always held the late falls and early summers over friends’ heads

Btw: don’t send your kids to catholic school

You’re in NY and have somehow avoided knowing anyone that’s Indian or celebrates Diwali? That’s amazing.

How bout just Dee-Wally?

[deleted]

I meant to ask my coworker this but forgot. Is this an Indian holiday or a Hindu holiday?

How about Lunar (Chinese) new year

...they spend the same amount of days either way, this just moves them around.

Hindus aren't vegan. Milk is an important part of the diet.

Hindu, but culturally originates in the landmass that's now India so is celebrated to an extent by almost all communities in India.

Yeah there is just no way to do this and make everyone happy. Unless schools just give up the goat and say that they don’t think days in class are important. The number of holidays and in services are already “most weeks”

A holiday isn't being added. It's replacing the day off for Brooklyn-Queens Day.

I consider someone stupid that comments without bothering to read up on what they're talking about. A holiday isn't being added. This is replacing Brooklyn-Queens Day as a holiday.