New York courts will close Friday as state commemorates Juneteenth for first time

Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman introduced a bill to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order making the day, which commemorates the end of slavery, a holiday for state employees. Photo via State Assembly

By David Brand

New York courts and state offices will close Friday following an executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo designating Juneteenth as an official holiday for state employees.

The order comes days after Queens Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman introduced a bill to make Juneteenth, or June 19, as a statewide holiday to commemorate the end of slavery. An Office of Court Administration spokesperson confirmed court closures for all but arraignments and emergency applications. Scheduled proceedings will be adjourned, the spokesperson said.

Juneteenth marks the anniversary of June 19, 1865, the date Union soldiers arrived at Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended and that all enslaved Black people were free. The end of the war came two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in Confederate states.

“Black Emancipation Day, June 19th, 1865 also known as Juneteenth is pivotal in the joy, congregation and spiritual well being of Black people in America,” Hyndman said in a statement. “I am pleased that the work I have done to solidify Juneteenth as a holiday in the State of New York is coming to fruition.”

“Next year it has to be a state holiday,” she told the Eagle later. “This is American history and we have to acknowledge it.” 

Hyndman said the official holiday will awaken New Yorkers to the brutal realities of slavery and the lasting impact of institutional racism on Black people 151 years after the end of the Civil War.

“When it comes to systemic racism in classes across the country, we do not acknowledge slavery and the lasting effects, and that’s why George Floyd’s death is an atrocity. That’s why Breonna Taylor’s death is a tragedy,” Hyndman said. 

The police killings of Floyd in Minnesota and Taylor in Kentucky touched off weeks of demonstrations against racist police violence and institutional racism across the country.

“I’m happy that now, more people have asked, ‘What is Juneteenth?’ and that shows Black history is often excluded from American history,” she said.

The governor’s office said Cuomo would sign legislation making Juneteenth a statewide holiday next year.

“Although slavery ended over 150 years ago, there has still been rampant, systemic discrimination and injustice in this state and this nation, and we have been working to enact real reforms to address these inequalities,” Cuomo said.