New York Buddhists mark largest-ever Vesak celebration in Queens
PS 69Q filled with 33 Buddhist groups, hundreds of devotees, and a Peace Parade through four closed Jackson Heights blocks. A guided meditation sat alongside chanting and civic pageantry.
PS 69Q in Jackson Heights hosted the largest unified Vesak Day celebration in New York City history on July 5, drawing 33 organizations and hundreds of devotees, monastics, community leaders, and city officials. Hosted by the Bangladesh Buddhist Community of New York, the event brought Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who was sworn in as mayor on January 1, 2026, as guest of honor.
The opening religious program moved through chanting in Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan before a guided meditation session brought the celebration back to the inward practice at the heart of Vesak. The observance marks the Buddha’s birth, awakening, and passing into parinirvana. The celebration then moved into the streets for a Peace Parade that closed four city blocks in Jackson Heights. Participants carried Buddhist flags and ceremonial umbrellas through the neighborhood.
Urgen Sherpa, chief advisor of the International Vesak Day 2026 Celebration Committee, presented Mamdani with a Buddha statue that carried an inscription thanking him for his inclusion of historically marginalized communities. The event received the most extensive logistical assistance New York City has provided for a Vesak Day celebration. Dharma talks were delivered by Ven. Dr. Saranapala Bhikkhu of the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre in Ontario, Canada, and His Eminence Gegye Yongyal Rinpoche of the Zero Point Meditation Center.
Jackson Heights is one of the most diverse communities in the country, with 160 languages spoken there, and Queens County is 29.5% Asian alone, 47.6% foreign-born, and 55.4% speaking a language other than English at home, according to Census Bureau estimates.
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