It’s Not Just Brooklyn-Queens Day Any More
Editorial

A tradition in Queens and Brooklyn since 1829 has bitten the dust. This year, Brooklyn-Queens Day, formerly celebrated only in the two boroughs for which it was named, will give students throughout New York City the first Thursday in June as a day off from school. (Their teachers will still be working, attending staff development meetings).

Brooklyn-Queens Day, also known as Anniversary Day, was first held to celebrate Sunday Schools being organized in the two boroughs. Although in an 1893

account schoolchildren were expected to

say “Christian things” about their teachers, there is no indication that children whose families followed other faiths were excluded from the celebrations, which included parades and banners. Students and teachers in the two boroughs got an extra holiday and while some people in the other boroughs grumbled a little, no one challenged the idea. Nor is there any indication that anyone took exception to church and state harmoniously commingling, although the observance of Brooklyn-Queens Day, or Anniversary Day, however one chooses to refer to it, took on increasingly secular connotations as the years went by.

For a century and a quarter, students and teachers at schools in Brooklyn and Queens, to the envy of their counterparts in the three other boroughs, got the first Thursday in June (the second Thursday if the first Thursday fell in the same week as the Memorial Day holiday) off from school with no remark from anyone. Then in 2005 the United Federation of Teachers and the New York City Department of Education signed a new contract. Among its provisions was one extending Anniversary Day to schools in Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx. As of this year, 2006, students will have a holiday, while teachers will attend sessions fostering professional development.

We could lament the passing of a tradition that made living in Queens even more special than we already think it is, but we won’t. People are moving to Queens from other parts of the city because of the many advantages offered by this borough, which gladdens our hearts. We do well to keep in mind, however, that we are part of a greater whole. Customs and traditions such as Brooklyn-Queens Day should be extended to the rest of the city so that we can truly say that living in any part of New York City offers the same advantages. Some of the city’s specialized high schools, such as Stuyvesant, Performing Arts, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Technical, are located in specific boroughs, but admission is open to any student who can pass the entrance examinations. The same holds true for institutions of higher education. LaGuardia Community College and Queens College do not restrict their student rosters to residents of this borough alone. As well as schools, museums, theaters and parks throughout the city are open to all.

Brooklyn-Queens Day was a nice tradition for the two boroughs while it lasted. The time has come, however, to extend the practice to the rest of New York City. At this point in our history there is good reason to foster unity of tradition, especially in our schools. Regardless, we will mark the day on our own as a vestige of days of yore that are no more.