Martin Luther King Jr. Day marked in New York

NEW YORK - Scores of events were held in New York on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The King family asked that this year's observances be focused on calls for passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act Protection Law, currently stalled in the U.S. Senate. 

For 36 years, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has held an annual tribute to King and this day was no different.

Then in Harlem, Rev. Al Sharpton hosted a commemoration at the National Action Network headquarters where he, Mayor Eric Adams, and many others made remarks.

RELATED: U.S. events honor civil rights leader

Signed into law in 1983, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January. The holiday honors King's tireless efforts against racial discrimination and segregation. His non-violence activism won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act that same year.

King was assassinated in 1968.

The holiday has also become known as a day of service in King's name to encourage Americans to participate in activities that give back to the community, which was the scene at a food distribution event held at Trinity Lutheran Parish on the Lower East Side.

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