New Bedford offices to close to observe Juneteenth

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — City offices and facilities in New Bedford will be closed in observation of Juneteenth.

Facilities including public libraries will be closed on Monday in observance of the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

The observance will delay residential trash, recycling, bulky pickup, yard waste, and commercial recycling routes by one day. Commercial trash and cardboard collection ill remain on schedule.

Buttonwood Park Zoo will remain open.

Juneteenth was first recognized in Massachusetts in 2007 and was formally designated a state holiday during the summer of 2020.

Mayor Jon Mitchell designated Juneteenth a City-observed holiday beginning in 2021, and the city was gifted an official Juneteenth Flag by Human Rights Commissioner Sidney Murray II this year.

A vendor market of Black-owned businesses will also take place on Saturday in recognition of the holiday.