Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed an executive order on Wednesday, June 18, 2020, declaring Juneteenth — a day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States — a holiday for employees of the State as the employer.
The holiday, also known as Freedom Day, falls annually on June 19, the same day in 1865 that a Union general arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they had been freed – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Governor's executive order* states that "This observance is a reminder of the hardships and losses suffered by African Americans in their struggle to attain freedom, and we pay tribute to the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in this quest. ... It is fitting that all New Yorkers join to commemorate such an important day in our nation’s history, as we take this opportunity to reflect upon and rejoice in the freedom and civil rights that we all share as Americans."
State officers and employees are being given a paid day off on Friday, June 20, 2020. Anyone required to work on this day will accrue one day of compensatory time credit.
Governor Cuomo also announce that he will propose legislation to codify the executive order and make Juneteenth an official state holiday beginning in 2021. A bill to do so was introduced earlier this month by Member of the State Assembly Alicia L. Hyndman. Currently, the holiday is a "day of commemoration" in New York.