Honor Brooklyn Chinese Parade

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.