New York City Schools Will Now Observe Two Muslim Holidays

More than 1 million New York City kids will now get school off in observance of two Muslim holy days.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the addition of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the New York City School District's holiday calendar Wednesday. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated at the end of Ramadan. Eid al-Adha is also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice and celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ibrahim.

Both days are observed by Muslims worldwide.

In his announcement Wednesday, de Blasio said that adding the holidays was about making "good on a promise to our Muslim brothers and sisters," and about "respect."

He went on to say that New York City's Muslim community is growing quickly. Students and families wanting to celebrate the holidays, however, "were forced into an untenable situation."

"So either the child went and pursued their education and missed their religious observance," de Blasio went on to say, "or the other way around — they participated in a sacred moment for their families and missed out educationally."

New York City is now the largest and highest-profile school district to observe the two holidays.

Other school districts in Michigan, Massachusetts, and elsewhere already observe the holidays, The New York Times reported. However, the New York City School District serves 1.1 million students, making it the largest district in the U.S. to add the two holidays.

The move to add the two holidays is consequently a major turning point, both for New York City and for Muslims in the U.S.

Muslims responded positively about the changes Wednesday when interviewed by reporters. Helal Chowdhury, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, told the Times that "this is a big step forward." And Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York told CNN that "today, New York City made us proud."

Others took to social media to express excitement over the newly-added school holidays: