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(New York, NY) – On Manhattan’s West Side, New Yorkers will be coming together to remember the fallen on this Memorial Day. A wreath laying ceremony is among the annual events at the USS Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum — where Mayor Eric Adams will speak.
Memorial Day emerged in the years after the Civil War — first as “Decoration Day” — when the graves of Civil War veterans were decorated with wreaths and flowers. Fittingly, four wreaths will be laid into the Hudson River today. The American flag will be unfurled in a ceremony, and a rifle salute will ring out mid-morning. It’s a public ceremony.
Parades and fireworks as well as barbeques and cookouts are planned throughout the Tri-State. Most people have the day off from work and schools are closed. The Post Office is closed, and Costco announced the closure of its stores as well.
Held the last Monday in May, Memorial Day was formalized by an order from Grand Army of the Republic Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan in 1868. It became a federal holiday in 1971.
