Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) was delighted to join New York Governor Kathy Hochul at Fortune Palace Restaurant in Bath Beach on Wednesday, February 21 for the governor’s festive Lunar New Year celebration.

Local luminaries from the Asian-American community, as well as people from across the state, filled the room to enjoy a performance by dancers from the Korean Service Center and a traditional Chinese banquet.

“I was pleased to join Governor Hochul and so many members of New York’s Asian American community to mark this auspicious occasion,” said Assemblyman Colton. “It was really gratifying that the event was held in my district, which is home to so many members of New York’s AAPI community.”

Among the reasons for celebration was the passage, last year, of a law introduced by Assemblyman Colton, with Assemblymember Grace Lee as the first co-sponsor, that made the first day of the Lunar New Year a school holiday across New York State.

Also in attendance was City Councilmember Susan Zhuang, who has made history as the first Chinese American councilmember from Brooklyn. Councilmember Zhuang, who previously served as Assemblyman Colton’s chief of staff, pushed hard for the legislation.

“It was very exciting to celebrate the holiday with the governor,” said Councilmember Zhuang. “This is the first Lunar New Year since the passage of the landmark legislation that gives Asian American children time off from school in order to commemorate the occasion with family.”

Nearly two million people of Asian heritage live in New York State, which has the second largest population of Asians in the country. The holiday, which marks the first new moon of the lunar calendar, usually falls between January 21 and February 20. The first day of Lunar New Year was designated a public school holiday in New York City in 2015.