Amd §168-a, add §294-b, Exec L; add §2586-b, amd §§3635 & 2590-h, Ed L
Establishes October 7th as October 7th remembrance day to honor the victims of the October 7, 2023 attacks; declares October seventh as a holiday for students in the public schools of the city of New York; requires the chancellor of the New York city school district to provide instruction of awareness of the October seventh remembrance day to students and professional development training to teachers; requires the division of human rights to establish a statewide campaign for antisemistism prevention; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6557
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. E. BROWN, CHANG -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing "October
7th remembrance day" and a statewide campaign for antisemitism
prevention; and to amend the education law, in relation to requiring
instruction in New York city public schools on the events of October
7, 2023, and the Holocaust
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "October 7th remembrance and education act of 2025".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and declarations. It is customary for the
4 legislature to recognize significant events that have deeply affected
5 the citizens of New York state and to establish official days of remem-
6 brance to increase awareness and honor the victims of such events.
7 From 1933 to 1945, six million Jews, along with millions of others,
8 fell victim to the systematic genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime,
9 an atrocity that became known as the Holocaust. The Holocaust remains
10 one of the most horrific and tragic chapters in human history, and its
11 lessons must be remembered and taught to future generations to ensure
12 that such hate and violence is never repeated.
13 October 7th, 2023, marked a dark and murderous day for the Jewish
14 people, as violent acts of hatred, culminating in the brutal massacre of
15 innocent civilians, devastated the Jewish community on one of their most
16 joyous days, the last day of Sukkot, known in Hebrew as Simchat Torah.
17 The events of October 7th, 2023, remind us of the continuing threat of
18 antisemitism and the need for collective action against hate, bigotry,
19 and violence in all its forms.
20 In response to the tragic and appalling violence against the Jewish
21 community in New York city, it is imperative that we honor the victims
22 and survivors of the October 7th, 2023, attacks, and that we ensure
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07152-01-5
A. 6557 2
1 future generations understand the importance of fighting antisemitism,
2 intolerance, and hate wherever they are found.
3 The tragic loss of life and the resulting trauma felt by the Jewish
4 community in New York city, and throughout the world, serves as a stark
5 reminder of the dangers of hatred and the necessity of education to
6 combat prejudice and violence.
7 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 168-a of the executive law, as amended
8 by chapter 542 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
9 3. The following days shall be days of commemoration in each year:
10 January sixth, to be known as "Haym Salomon Day", January twenty-sev-
11 enth, to be known as "Holocaust Remembrance Day", February fourth, to be
12 known as "Rosa Parks Day", February fifteenth, to be known as "Susan B.
13 Anthony Day", February sixteenth, to be known as "Lithuanian Independ-
14 ence Day", February twenty-eighth, to be known as "Gulf War Veterans'
15 Day", March fourth, to be known as "Pulaski Day", March eighth, to be
16 known as "International Women's Day", March tenth, to be known as
17 "Harriet Tubman Day", March twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veter-
18 ans' Day", April ninth, to be known as "POW Recognition Day", April
19 twenty-seventh, to be known as "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-
20 eighth, to be known as "Workers' Memorial Day", the first Tuesday in May
21 to be known as "New York State Teacher Day", May seventeenth, to be
22 known as "Thurgood Marshall Day", the first Sunday in June, to be known
23 as "Children's Day", June second, to be known as "Italian Independence
24 Day", June twelfth, to be known as "Women Veterans Recognition Day",
25 June nineteenth, to be known as "Juneteenth Freedom Day", June twenty-
26 fifth, to be known as "Korean War Veterans' Day", the second Monday in
27 July, to be known as "Abolition Commemoration Day", August twenty-
28 fourth, to be known as "Ukrainian Independence Day", August twenty-
29 sixth, to be known as "Women's Equality Day", September eleventh, to be
30 known as "Battle of Plattsburgh Day" and also to be known as "September
31 11th Remembrance Day", September thirteenth, to be known as "John Barry
32 Day" and also to be known as "Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York",
33 September seventeenth, to be known as "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
34 Memorial Day", the third Friday in September to be known as "New York
35 State POW/MIA Recognition Day" except if such date of commemoration
36 cannot be observed due to a religious holiday, such observances shall
37 then be conducted on the second Friday of September, the last Saturday
38 in September, to be known as "War of 1812 Day", the fourth Saturday of
39 September, known as "Native-American Day", the last Sunday in September,
40 to be known as "Gold Star Mothers' Day", October fifth, to be known as
41 "Raoul Wallenberg Day", October seventh, to be known as "October Seventh
42 Remembrance Day", October eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day
43 in the State of New York", October eighteenth, to be known as "Disabili-
44 ties History Day", October twenty-seventh, to be known as "Theodore
45 Roosevelt Day", November ninth, to be known as "Witness for Tolerance
46 Day", November twelfth, to be known as "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day", the
47 third Tuesday in November to be known as "New York State School-Related
48 Professionals Recognition Day", November twenty-sixth, to be known as
49 "Sojourner Truth Day", November thirtieth, to be known as "Shirley
50 Chisholm Day", December third, to be known as "International Day of
51 Persons with Disabilities", December seventh, to be known as "Pearl
52 Harbor Day", December sixteenth, to be known as "Bastogne Day" and that
53 day of the Asian lunar calendar designated as new year to be known as
54 "Asian New Year".
55 § 4. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2586-b to
56 read as follows:
A. 6557 3
1 § 2586-b. October seventh remembrance day as a holiday for students in
2 the public schools of the city of New York. The seventh day of October
3 in each year, known as October seventh remembrance day, is hereby made
4 and declared to be a holiday for students in all the public schools in
5 the city school district in the city of New York and students shall not
6 be required to attend the public schools on such day. If such day falls
7 on a Sunday, students shall not be required to attend public schools on
8 the Monday thereafter.
9 § 5. Subdivision 2-a of section 3635 of the education law, as sepa-
10 rately amended by chapters 359 and 629 of the laws of 2023, is amended
11 to read as follows:
12 2-a. The superintendent of each city school district, in a city having
13 a population in excess of one million, shall prepare a public school
14 calendar and shall notify officials of nonpublic schools to which trans-
15 portation has been requested not later than the first day of June in
16 each year, of the days on which the public schools will be in session in
17 the following school year. Such school district which provides transpor-
18 tation to nonpublic schools shall provide such transportation for the
19 same number of days as the public schools are open but shall not provide
20 transportation services for more than one hundred eighty days. Offi-
21 cials of each nonpublic school to which transportation is provided by a
22 city school district of a city having a population in excess of one
23 million may notify such district, not later than the first day of July
24 of each school year, of a maximum of five days, exclusive of Saturdays,
25 Sundays or legal holidays upon which public schools are required to be
26 closed, on which the public schools are scheduled to be closed, except
27 that in any year in which the first or last day of Passover and Easter
28 Sunday are separated by more than seven days, such officials may notify
29 the district of a maximum of ten days, but such school district will be
30 required to provide for transportation to such nonpublic school provided
31 that such five or ten additional days, whichever is applicable, are
32 limited to the following: the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
33 after Labor Day, October seventh, known as October seventh remembrance
34 day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the week in which public schools are
35 closed for spring recess, December twenty-fourth and the week between
36 Christmas day and New Year's day, the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and
37 Friday after the observance of Washington's birthday, the first day of
38 the second lunar month after the winter solstice in the preceding calen-
39 dar year, known as Asian Lunar New Year, the fifteenth day of the eighth
40 month of the Indian calendar in each year, known as Diwali, and, in the
41 boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens only, Anniversary Day as designated in
42 section twenty-five hundred eighty-six of this chapter.
43 § 6. Section 2590-h of the education law is amended by adding a new
44 subdivision 57 to read as follows:
45 57. (a) Ensure that all students in the city district and the charter
46 schools in the city of New York authorized by article fifty-six of this
47 title providing instruction in accordance with section thirty-two
48 hundred four of this chapter, as part of the instruction in awareness of
49 October seventh remembrance day pursuant to section twenty-five hundred
50 eighty-six-b of this article.
51 (b) Commencing in the two thousand twenty-five--two thousand twenty-
52 six academic year, the chancellor shall require all public schools and
53 charter schools within the five boroughs of New York city to incorporate
54 lessons on October seventh, two thousand twenty-three, also known as the
55 October seventh massacre, as part of their Holocaust and genocide educa-
A. 6557 4
1 tion curriculum. Such lessons shall be age-appropriate and tailored to
2 the grade level.
3 (c) Such lessons shall include the historical context of the October
4 seventh, two thousand twenty-three attacks and their significance in the
5 ongoing struggle against antisemitism and other forms of hate.
6 (i) The curriculum shall also address the broader history of the Holo-
7 caust, including the systematic persecution and murder of Jews and other
8 marginalized groups by the Nazi regime, as well as the impact of those
9 events on future generations.
10 (ii) Students will learn about the importance of tolerance, diversity,
11 and the consequences of unchecked hatred.
12 (d) (i) The city district, in collaboration with Holocaust education
13 organizations, shall provide ongoing professional development and train-
14 ing for teachers to ensure they are equipped to teach these sensitive
15 subjects with accuracy, empathy, and respect.
16 (ii) In addition to classroom instruction, schools shall be encouraged
17 to host annual events on October seventh remembrance day, including
18 guest speakers, survivor testimonies, and other educational activities
19 to honor the victims of the October seventh attacks and the Holocaust.
20 § 7. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 294-b to
21 read as follows:
22 § 294-b. Statewide campaign for antisemitism prevention. 1. The divi-
23 sion shall develop and implement a statewide campaign to combat antise-
24 mitism and other forms of discrimination by implementing public aware-
25 ness campaigns, providing resources for reporting hate crimes and
26 incidents of discrimination, and promoting interfaith dialogue, healing,
27 and education.
28 2. In order to effectuate the purpose of the campaign the division
29 shall:
30 a. coordinate and cooperate with public and private organizations,
31 including, but not limited to, community groups, school districts, syna-
32 gogues, charitable organizations, foundations and other relevant groups;
33 b. develop educational materials to be published on the website of the
34 division, social media campaigns or other means determined to be the
35 most effective at reaching the public in a cost effective manner;
36 c. make information regarding such campaign available on the website
37 of the division; and
38 d. utilize other resources the division deems appropriate and any
39 other resources, private or public, identified by the division.
40 § 8. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any
41 person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
42 other provisions or applications of this act that can be given effect
43 without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the
44 provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
45 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
46 the amendments to section 2590-h of the education law made by section
47 six of this act shall not affect the expiration and reversion of such
48 section and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.
