Senate Resolution No. 3653

BY: Senator HAMILTON

HONORING the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association
upon the occasion of celebrating the Year of the Dog
at the Opening Ceremony of its 31st Annual Chinese
New Year Celebration Parade on February 18, 2018

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to honor those
enduring organizations which faithfully devote their resources and
purposeful energies to preserving and improving the quality and dignity
of life in the communities they serve; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long- standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association upon the occasion of
celebrating the Year of the Dog at the Opening Ceremony of its 31st
Annual Chinese New Year Celebration Parade to be held on Sunday,
February 18, 2018; and

WHEREAS, With an anticipated 50,000 spectators, community leaders as
well as public and elected officials will offer welcoming remarks and
greetings, immediately followed by a spectacular firecrackers display, a
traditional lion dance, a Kung-Fu demonstration, day care and public
school performances as well as other cultural activities; and

WHEREAS, Since its inception, the Annual Chinese New Year
Celebration Parade has been bringing the richness of the Chinese culture
to the Borough of Brooklyn as well as promoting unity among
neighborhoods; to honor the tradition, firecrackers will be used for the
traditional ritual cleansing of homes and businesses to usher in a year
of good luck; and

WHEREAS, Under the able direction of President/CEO Paul P. Mak, The
Brooklyn Chinese-American Association was founded in 1988 as a small
social services agency whose primary mission was to provide assistance
to the growing Asian-American community in the Sunset Park, Borough Park
and Bay Ridge sections of Brooklyn, New York; and

WHEREAS, Today, Brooklyn is home to an estimate of over 250,000
Asian-Americans; as a result of the significant increase in the Asian-
American population, Sunset Park and its surrounding neighborhoods have
been commonly known as the "Brooklyn Chinatown" since the 1990s; and

WHEREAS, As the Asian-American population continues to shift and
expand across Brooklyn as well as the rest of New York City, The
Brooklyn Chinese-American Association seeks to augment and enhance its
services to meet the population's ever-growing needs; and

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body, in keeping with
its time-honored traditions, to recognize and pay tribute to those
associations which foster ethnic pride and enhance the profile of
cultural diversity which strengthens the fabric of the communities of
New York State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association upon the occasion of
celebrating the Year of the Dog at the Opening Ceremony of its 31st
Annual Chinese New Year Celebration Parade on February 18, 2018; and be
it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Paul P. Mak, President/CEO, Brooklyn Chinese-American
Association.