There are twelve observed New York State holidays for state employees. Under the Attendance Rules, a holiday that falls on a Sunday is observed on the following Monday. Lincoln's Birthday and Election Day are deemed floating holidays and can optionally be observed on a later date. A holiday is observed by employees scheduled to work that day; it is not available as a regular or floating holiday for other employees.
Additional New York City holidays
In addition to the official New York state holidays, New York City schools also receive the following holidays:
The reasoning behind the additional holidays is said to be to recognize the cultural diversity of the city where "... homes where over 185 languages are spoken and more than 42 percent of the students come from homes where English is not the primary language."