Brooklyn-Queens Day - June 9th

Two too many people at my park!

Well, as many of you may have noticed a strange increase in teenagers and kids in parks and wandering around in malls, and no, it isn't summer yet. It's Brooklyn-Queens day! For teens and kids alike it better known as "that day we don't go to school". On this day, public schools in Kings and Queens County Public Schools are closed. Nope, no list to check if you're school is eligible for this special treat, if your school is a public school in Brooklyn or Queens, you've the got the day off. Sadly, this isn't the case for teachers, which have to come to work for a teacher's conference day.

Back in the day, it was known as "Anniversary Day", and was originally a Protestant holiday celebrated in Brooklyn back in the times of Civil Wars, gas lighting and tin cans, 1829. The day was celebrated on the first Thursday in June, but today is celebrated every 2nd Thursday of June. The day was commemorating the founding of the First Sunday School on long island. A New York State Legislature enacted in 1959 on request of the Queens Federation of Churches to permit schools in both Kings and Queens Counties to be closed on this day. It was signed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller.

Sources: http://gothamist.com/2006/06/08/its_brooklynque.php