Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed last year that Juneteenth would be an official holiday. City workers learned this week they would not be getting a paid day off after all.
When George Floyd was murdered by the police last May, galvanizing protests for racial justice, efforts to recognize Juneteenth — the day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States — picked up steam across the country.
Mayor Bill de Blasio took notice. And on June 19 of last year, he made a solemn vow.
“Starting next year, Juneteenth will be an official city holiday and official New York City schools holiday,” Mr. de Blasio said.
He said that every city employee and every student would have “an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of our history.”
It was a momentous-seeming announcement for the largest city in the country and the nation’s biggest school system, and headlines followed.
But one year later, even as President Biden signed a bill on Thursday making Juneteenth a federal holiday, Mr. de Blasio’s efforts have yet to yield their promised result. On Tuesday, just days before Juneteenth, municipal employees learned that they would not actually be getting an extra paid day off to commemorate the holiday this year.
Rather, city workers will need to use their pre-existing paid time off — an unused vacation day, for example — to celebrate the holiday, according to three city officials and a union official briefed on the matter.
The development highlights one of the enduring complaints about the mayoralty of Mr. de Blasio — that he sometimes makes bold promises in the heat of historic moments but runs into trouble with the follow-through. This is the second commitment Mr. de Blasio made in the aftermath of the racial justice protests that has yet to bear fruit.
On Tuesday, the Citizens Budget Commission reported that contrary to Mr. de Blasio’s and the New York City Council speaker’s claim that they cut $1 billion from the police department budget last year, they actually only cut about $300 million.
A spokesman for the mayor noted that he announced a “Juneteenth Economic Justice Plan” on Thursday, that includes creating savings plans for every public school kindergarten student next school year, with the goal of addressing racial inequities. The city plans to put at least $100 into every account, at a cost of $15 million.
“Juneteenth marked the end of slavery, but not the end of systemic, structural racism in America,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement. “To begin to repair harms of the past, New York City is investing in the future and building generational wealth.”
Alicia Hyndman, the state assemblywoman who in 2020 sponsored legislation making Juneteenth a holiday for state workers, called Mr. de Blasio “hypocritical” for failing to follow through on his Juneteenth promise.
“For us, it’s our July 4,” said Ms. Hyndman, who is Black and who represents southeast Queens. “This is our Independence Day, Juneteeth. That’s important for people to understand. This is American history. This is how it happened.”
Granting workers an extra day off required labor negotiations, in part because unions were expected to help pay for the expense, the union official said. The publication The City reported in January that the unions had not heard from the mayor since he made the announcement.
The timing of Juneteenth is also said to have been a complicating factor. It falls on a Saturday this year — a day when some employees report to work for regular shifts and others accrue overtime.
Traditionally, when holidays fall on Saturdays, city workers get the preceding Friday off. City Hall could also have made Juneteenth a floating holiday for workers to use whenever they please — this year, workers who wanted to celebrate Lincoln’s Birthday, Feb. 12, used a floating holiday, for example.
“When this happened last year, it was very obvious to me that it was a symbolic gesture to try to turn around what was a very negative news cycle for him,” said Olivia Lapeyrolerie, who was Mr. de Blasio’s first deputy press secretary at the time of his Juneteenth announcement and is Black.
That summer, Mr. de Blasio was facing intense scrutiny for his management of the Police Department, whose use of force during the protests had sparked an uproar.
“It was obvious that this was a P.R. move,” she said. “But he’s not even following through on the P.R. move.”
Mr. de Blasio is taking other measures to demonstrate a commitment to honoring Juneteenth. On Thursday, he announced a Friday Juneteenth celebration on the James Baldwin Lawn in Harlem’s St. Nicholas Park. And this week his Parks Department announced it was naming 16 parks for Black Americans.
At the height of the protests last summer, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, too, seized on the moment: He signed an executive order during a news conference in the State Capitol that recognized Juneteenth as a holiday for state employees. His order was followed up by Ms. Hyndman’s legislation, which he signed four months later, making Juneteenth an official state holiday.
“It is a day that we should all reflect upon,” Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, said when he signed the executive order in June 2020. “It’s a day that’s especially relevant in this moment in history.”
Since Juneteenth falls on a Saturday this year, making it a “pass holiday” for workers who work weekdays, state employees will be allowed to observe the holiday on another day of their choosing, subject to approval from their supervisors, according to the Department of Civil Service.
For her part, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader, declared Friday a Senate holiday, giving staffers the day off, a spokesman said.
New York City Department of Education employees will have a day off for Juneteenth starting next year, too, because the state law applies to schools, the mayor’s office said.
The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, when a Union general arrived in Galveston, Texas, after the end of the Civil War and informed enslaved people they were free.
The day was initially celebrated with prayer, but grew to celebrations among families in backyards, with food playing an integral role, and, in some cities, parades and festivals. In New York City, the holiday will be celebrated over the weekend with ceremonies, art showcases, concerts, barbecues, a 5K run and literary and food festivals.
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