S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6557
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               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:
 
   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "October 7th remembrance and education act of 2025".
   § 2. Legislative findings and declarations. It is  customary  for  the
 legislature  to  recognize  significant events that have deeply affected
 the citizens of New York state and to establish official days of  remem-
 brance to increase awareness and honor the victims of such events.
   From  1933  to  1945, six million Jews, along with millions of others,
 fell victim to the systematic genocide perpetrated by the  Nazi  regime,
 an  atrocity  that  became known as the Holocaust. The Holocaust remains
 one of the most horrific and tragic chapters in human history,  and  its
 lessons  must  be  remembered and taught to future generations to ensure
 that such hate and violence is never repeated.
   October 7th, 2023, marked a dark and  murderous  day  for  the  Jewish
 people, as violent acts of hatred, culminating in the brutal massacre of
 innocent civilians, devastated the Jewish community on one of their most
 joyous  days,  the last day of Sukkot, known in Hebrew as Simchat Torah.
 The events of October 7th, 2023, remind us of the continuing  threat  of
 antisemitism  and  the need for collective action against hate, bigotry,
 and violence in all its forms.
   In response to the tragic and appalling violence  against  the  Jewish
 community  in  New York city, it is imperative that we honor the victims
 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
 
 future  generations  understand the importance of fighting antisemitism,
 intolerance, and hate wherever they are found.
   The  tragic  loss  of life and the resulting trauma felt by the Jewish
 community in New York city, and throughout the world, serves as a  stark
 reminder  of  the  dangers  of  hatred and the necessity of education to
 combat prejudice and violence.
   § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 168-a of the executive law,  as  amended
 by chapter 542 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  The  following  days  shall be days of commemoration in each year:
 January sixth, to be known as "Haym Salomon  Day",  January  twenty-sev-
 enth, to be known as "Holocaust Remembrance Day", February fourth, to be
 known  as "Rosa Parks Day", February fifteenth, to be known as "Susan B.
 Anthony Day", February sixteenth, to be known as  "Lithuanian  Independ-
 ence  Day",  February  twenty-eighth, to be known as "Gulf War Veterans'
 Day", March fourth, to be known as "Pulaski Day", March  eighth,  to  be
 known  as  "International  Women's  Day",  March  tenth,  to be known as
 "Harriet Tubman Day", March twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veter-
 ans' Day", April ninth, to be known  as  "POW  Recognition  Day",  April
 twenty-seventh,  to  be known as "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-
 eighth, to be known as "Workers' Memorial Day", the first Tuesday in May
 to be known as "New York State Teacher  Day",  May  seventeenth,  to  be
 known  as "Thurgood Marshall Day", the first Sunday in June, to be known
 as "Children's Day", June second, to be known as  "Italian  Independence
 Day",  June  twelfth,  to  be known as "Women Veterans Recognition Day",
 June nineteenth, to be known as "Juneteenth Freedom Day",  June  twenty-
 fifth,  to  be known as "Korean War Veterans' Day", the second Monday in
 July, to be known  as  "Abolition  Commemoration  Day",  August  twenty-
 fourth,  to  be  known  as  "Ukrainian Independence Day", August twenty-
 sixth, to be known as "Women's Equality Day", September eleventh, to  be
 known  as "Battle of Plattsburgh Day" and also to be known as "September
 11th Remembrance Day", September thirteenth, to be known as "John  Barry
 Day"  and  also to be known as "Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York",
 September seventeenth, to be known as  "Friedrich  Wilhelm  von  Steuben
 Memorial  Day",  the  third Friday in September to be known as "New York
 State POW/MIA Recognition Day" except  if  such  date  of  commemoration
 cannot  be  observed  due to a religious holiday, such observances shall
 then be conducted on the second Friday of September, the  last  Saturday
 in  September,  to be known as "War of 1812 Day", the fourth Saturday of
 September, known as "Native-American Day", the last Sunday in September,
 to be known as "Gold Star Mothers' Day", October fifth, to be  known  as
 "Raoul Wallenberg Day", OCTOBER SEVENTH, TO BE KNOWN AS "OCTOBER SEVENTH
 REMEMBRANCE  DAY",  October eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day
 in the State of New York", October eighteenth, to be known as "Disabili-
 ties History Day", October twenty-seventh,  to  be  known  as  "Theodore
 Roosevelt  Day",  November  ninth, to be known as "Witness for Tolerance
 Day", November twelfth, to be known as "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day", the
 third Tuesday in November to be known as "New York State  School-Related
 Professionals  Recognition  Day",  November twenty-sixth, to be known as
 "Sojourner Truth Day", November  thirtieth,  to  be  known  as  "Shirley
 Chisholm  Day",  December  third,  to  be known as "International Day of
 Persons with Disabilities", December seventh,  to  be  known  as  "Pearl
 Harbor  Day", December sixteenth, to be known as "Bastogne Day" and that
 day of the Asian lunar calendar designated as new year to  be  known  as
 "Asian New Year".
   §  4.  The  education law is amended by adding a new section 2586-b to
 read as follows:
 A. 6557                             3
 
   § 2586-B. OCTOBER SEVENTH REMEMBRANCE DAY AS A HOLIDAY FOR STUDENTS IN
 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. THE SEVENTH DAY  OF  OCTOBER
 IN  EACH  YEAR, KNOWN AS OCTOBER SEVENTH REMEMBRANCE DAY, IS HEREBY MADE
 AND DECLARED TO BE A HOLIDAY FOR STUDENTS IN ALL THE PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN
 THE  CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AND STUDENTS SHALL NOT
 BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ON SUCH DAY. IF SUCH DAY  FALLS
 ON  A SUNDAY, STUDENTS SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND PUBLIC SCHOOLS ON
 THE MONDAY THEREAFTER.
   § 5. Subdivision 2-a of section 3635 of the education  law,  as  sepa-
 rately  amended  by chapters 359 and 629 of the laws of 2023, is amended
 to read as follows:
   2-a. The superintendent of each city school district, in a city having
 a population in excess of one million, shall  prepare  a  public  school
 calendar and shall notify officials of nonpublic schools to which trans-
 portation  has  been  requested  not later than the first day of June in
 each year, of the days on which the public schools will be in session in
 the following school year. Such school district which provides transpor-
 tation to nonpublic schools shall provide such  transportation  for  the
 same number of days as the public schools are open but shall not provide
 transportation  services  for  more than one hundred eighty days.  Offi-
 cials of each nonpublic school to which transportation is provided by  a
 city  school  district  of  a  city having a population in excess of one
 million may notify such district, not later than the first day  of  July
 of  each school year, of a maximum of five days, exclusive of Saturdays,
 Sundays or legal holidays upon which public schools are required  to  be
 closed,  on  which the public schools are scheduled to be closed, except
 that in any year in which the first or last day of Passover  and  Easter
 Sunday  are separated by more than seven days, such officials may notify
 the district of a maximum of ten days, but such school district will  be
 required to provide for transportation to such nonpublic school provided
 that  such  five  or  ten  additional days, whichever is applicable, are
 limited to the following: the Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Friday
 after  Labor  Day, OCTOBER SEVENTH, KNOWN AS OCTOBER SEVENTH REMEMBRANCE
 DAY, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the week in  which  public  schools  are
 closed  for  spring  recess, December twenty-fourth and the week between
 Christmas day and New Year's day, the Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday  and
 Friday  after  the observance of Washington's birthday, the first day of
 the second lunar month after the winter solstice in the preceding calen-
 dar year, known as Asian Lunar New Year, the fifteenth day of the eighth
 month of the Indian calendar in each year, known as Diwali, and, in  the
 boroughs  of  Brooklyn and Queens only, Anniversary Day as designated in
 section twenty-five hundred eighty-six of this chapter.
   § 6. Section 2590-h of the education law is amended by  adding  a  new
 subdivision 57 to read as follows:
   57.  (A) ENSURE THAT ALL STUDENTS IN THE CITY DISTRICT AND THE CHARTER
 SCHOOLS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AUTHORIZED BY ARTICLE FIFTY-SIX OF  THIS
 TITLE  PROVIDING  INSTRUCTION  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH  SECTION  THIRTY-TWO
 HUNDRED FOUR OF THIS CHAPTER, AS PART OF THE INSTRUCTION IN AWARENESS OF
 OCTOBER SEVENTH REMEMBRANCE DAY PURSUANT TO SECTION TWENTY-FIVE  HUNDRED
 EIGHTY-SIX-B OF THIS ARTICLE.
   (B)  COMMENCING  IN THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-
 SIX ACADEMIC YEAR, THE CHANCELLOR SHALL REQUIRE ALL PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AND
 CHARTER SCHOOLS WITHIN THE FIVE BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY TO INCORPORATE
 LESSONS ON OCTOBER SEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE
 OCTOBER SEVENTH MASSACRE, AS PART OF THEIR HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE EDUCA-
 A. 6557                             4
 
 TION  CURRICULUM.  SUCH LESSONS SHALL BE AGE-APPROPRIATE AND TAILORED TO
 THE GRADE LEVEL.
   (C)  SUCH  LESSONS SHALL INCLUDE THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE OCTOBER
 SEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE ATTACKS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN THE
 ONGOING STRUGGLE AGAINST ANTISEMITISM AND OTHER FORMS OF HATE.
   (I) THE CURRICULUM SHALL ALSO ADDRESS THE BROADER HISTORY OF THE HOLO-
 CAUST, INCLUDING THE SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION AND MURDER OF JEWS AND OTHER
 MARGINALIZED GROUPS BY THE NAZI REGIME, AS WELL AS THE IMPACT  OF  THOSE
 EVENTS ON FUTURE GENERATIONS.
   (II) STUDENTS WILL LEARN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TOLERANCE, DIVERSITY,
 AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNCHECKED HATRED.
   (D)  (I)  THE CITY DISTRICT, IN COLLABORATION WITH HOLOCAUST EDUCATION
 ORGANIZATIONS, SHALL PROVIDE ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAIN-
 ING FOR TEACHERS TO ENSURE THEY ARE EQUIPPED TO  TEACH  THESE  SENSITIVE
 SUBJECTS WITH ACCURACY, EMPATHY, AND RESPECT.
   (II) IN ADDITION TO CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION, SCHOOLS SHALL BE ENCOURAGED
 TO  HOST  ANNUAL  EVENTS  ON  OCTOBER SEVENTH REMEMBRANCE DAY, INCLUDING
 GUEST SPEAKERS, SURVIVOR TESTIMONIES, AND OTHER  EDUCATIONAL  ACTIVITIES
 TO HONOR THE VICTIMS OF THE OCTOBER SEVENTH ATTACKS AND THE HOLOCAUST.
   §  7.  The  executive  law is amended by adding a new section 294-b to
 read as follows:
   § 294-B. STATEWIDE CAMPAIGN FOR ANTISEMITISM PREVENTION. 1. THE  DIVI-
 SION  SHALL DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A STATEWIDE CAMPAIGN TO COMBAT ANTISE-
 MITISM AND OTHER FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION BY IMPLEMENTING  PUBLIC  AWARE-
 NESS  CAMPAIGNS,  PROVIDING  RESOURCES  FOR  REPORTING  HATE  CRIMES AND
 INCIDENTS OF DISCRIMINATION, AND PROMOTING INTERFAITH DIALOGUE, HEALING,
 AND EDUCATION.
   2. IN ORDER TO EFFECTUATE THE PURPOSE OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  THE  DIVISION
 SHALL:
   A.  COORDINATE  AND  COOPERATE  WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS,
 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COMMUNITY GROUPS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, SYNA-
 GOGUES, CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS, FOUNDATIONS AND OTHER RELEVANT GROUPS;
   B. DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS TO BE PUBLISHED ON THE WEBSITE OF THE
 DIVISION, SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS OR OTHER MEANS  DETERMINED  TO  BE  THE
 MOST EFFECTIVE AT REACHING THE PUBLIC IN A COST EFFECTIVE MANNER;
   C.  MAKE  INFORMATION REGARDING SUCH CAMPAIGN AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE
 OF THE DIVISION; AND
   D. UTILIZE OTHER RESOURCES THE  DIVISION  DEEMS  APPROPRIATE  AND  ANY
 OTHER RESOURCES, PRIVATE OR PUBLIC, IDENTIFIED BY THE DIVISION.
   §  8.  If  any provision of this act or the application thereof to any
 person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not  affect
 other  provisions  or  applications of this act that can be given effect
 without the invalid provision or  application,  and  to  this  end,  the
 provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
   §  9.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
 the amendments to section 2590-h of the education law  made  by  section
 six  of  this  act shall not affect the expiration and reversion of such
 section and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.