Mayor Bloomberg declared The Immigrant Heritage Week an official, annual celebration. This week is a unique celebration of the vibrant immigrant cultures, heritage, and communities found in every corner of the City. This year Immigrant Heritage Week will be celebrated during April 15 - 21, 2010.
Immigrant Heritage Week is supported in part by the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. The Mayor's Fund is a not-for-profit organization established to strengthen public programs with private sector support from individuals, corporations, and foundations. As a 501(c)(3) public charity, donations to the Mayor's Fund are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Learn more about the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City or to make a charitable contribution.
Last year the Mayor kicked-off the Sixth Annual Immigrant Heritage Week week by signing Executive Order 128, formalizing the annual celebration of Immigrant Heritage, coordinated by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. "Immigrant Heritage Week started with a handful of community events and now with 180 events citywide, its success is a testament to the incredible strength of our diverse immigrant population," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We are going to make sure that we continue to serve all immigrant communities in our city. Our Language Access Executive Order is just one more way to make New York even more accessible to the communities that contribute to our wonderful diversity."
"Immigrant Heritage Week celebrates our shared immigrant histories, diverse cultures and religions, and the role these play in enriching our City," said Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs Robles-Román. "Today the City of New York formally establishes Immigrant Heritage Week as an annual commemoration to raise awareness of immigrant history and heritage."
In July 2008, Mayor Bloomberg signed Executive Order 120 creating a centralized language access policy for New York City. Executive Order 120 mandates that all City agencies that provide direct public services create a language access implementation plan to provide language assistance to limited-English proficient New Yorkers. Each agency has now designated a Language Access Coordinator who has developed a Language Access policy and implementation plan, which are now posted on www.nyc.gov. Plans include strategies and implementation timelines for interpretation, translation and multi-lingual signage, as well as training of front-line staff and quality assurance measurements.
Immigrant Heritage Week explores that diversity though a rich collection of community events and cultural activities created to highlight the immigrant experience in New York. Established by Mayor Bloomberg in 2004 as a citywide celebration, Immigrant Heritage Week is celebrated around April 17th, the day in 1907 when more immigrants entered through Ellis Island than any other date in the City's history. The weeklong celebration will feature over 180 free or low cost events hosted by a number of community organizations in 19 languages in all five boroughs. The events include family programs, cultural celebrations, film, theater, exhibitions, and multi-day workshops.
In celebration of Immigrant Heritage Week, the Bronx Council on the Arts’ (BCA) Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos presents Impractical Hats: Indie Crafts Reinvent Everyday Gear, an exhibition by 19 local artists who are members of BCA’s bronxArtworks artisans collective. The opening exhibition takes place in conjunction with that evening’s Bronx Culture Trolley.
Featured artists are members of bronxArtworks, a collective of immigrant artisans, indie artists, local artisans, independent designers and the local Bronx outsider artist community. They include Karen Ahn, AJ Sister Black, Aleathia Brown, Leenda Bonilla, Gabrielle Curran, Kim Curran, Diane Davis, Sean Paul Gallegos. Roxe Jordan, Toby Z. Liederman, Francine Marino, Hector Melendez, Lucrecia Novoa, Elizabeth Ortiz, Esther Pagan, Diana Pucci, Joseph Pucci, and Lisa Ulhig.
This article includes portion of information from www.nyc.gov
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