Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Nydia Negron (212) 788-9364
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today proclaimed February as Chinese Heritage and Culture Month in New York City in celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year 4695, the Year of the Ox. The proclamation was presented by Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Services Ninfa Segarra during a City Hall reception hosted by the Chinese Bilingual Educators Committee.
"Immigration is crucial to maintaining New York City's position as the capital of the world and is essential to its continued success." Mayor Giuliani said. "New York's Chinese community is one of the strongest, most vibrant and most influential communities in our City and much of its success is driven by immigration.""Fear and misguided anti-immigrant policies resulted in the Chinese exclusion acts of the late 19th century, which legally prevented Chinese people from becoming American citizens," the Mayor added. "It was not until the onset of the Second World War that these grossly discriminatory acts were repealed. Thereafter the Chinese were able to pursue the American Dream alongside all of our other immigrant communities. Now the positive influence of the Chinese people and Chinese culture can be seen throughout our city. The Chinese community has proven once again that differences of race, religion or language that at first seem so strange are really trivial when compared to our vast similarities -- similarities of family, of hard work, prosperity and enterprise, all of these qualities that allow immigrants to come to our shores and revitalize, reinvent and renew communities throughout our City."
Deputy Mayor Segarra said, "The New York Bilingual Educators Committee has been a tremendous positive force in helping Chinese immigrants in our City. By teaching English to our Chinese residents, they help them on the road to mainstream prosperity."
The proclamation was presented to Ms. Lima Yin, a librarian at the Elmhurst branch of the New York Public Library, in recognition of the library's contribution to the Chinese community.