New York, NY – On Wednesday, June 7th, business and philanthropic leaders in the Asian American community published a letter voicing their support for legislation to make Lunar New Year a statewide holiday in New York State. The signatories include Li Lu, Founder & Chairman of Himalaya Capital and Board Chair of The Asian American Foundation; Joseph Bae, Co-Chief Executive Officer of KKR; Ming Chen, Chief Culture Officer of EF Education First, and television and film producer Melvin Mar, who recently produced the Netflix series American Born Chinese. In publishing this letter, these leaders are joining Assemblymember Grace Lee and other legislators' efforts to pass this legislation before the 2023 session ends this Friday.

The signers stated that legislation to make Lunar New Year a statewide holiday in New York would bring necessary and long-overdue recognition to New York’s Asian American community and would help educate New Yorkers about Asian American culture and heritage at a time when the Asian American community is suffering from a steep rise in anti-Asian hate and violence. The letter calls on government leaders who have pledged their support to New York’s Asian American community to translate their commitments into action by passing the legislation to make Lunar New Year a statewide holiday.

“I am proud to be joined by this inspiring group of Asian American leaders and trailblazers in our historic movement to make Lunar New Year a statewide holiday in New York State,” said Assemblymember Grace Lee. “As Asian Americans, each of these leaders has overcome great adversity to rise to the highest ranks in their profession and understand firsthand how important it is for the Asian American community to continue to strive for equity and recognition as New Yorkers. With the help of New York’s Asian American business and philanthropic community, I look forward to making the final push to pass this legislation before the end of this year’s session.”