April 21, 2020 By Allie Griffin
New York City will honor the healthcare workers and first responders fighting the coronavirus with a ticker-tape parade once the pandemic is defeated, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.
“When that day comes that we can restart the vibrant, beautiful life of this city again, the first thing we will do is we will have a ticker-tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes for our healthcare workers and our first responders,” de Blasio said at City Hall. “We will honor those who saved us.”
The mayor said the parade will be the “biggest, best parade” down the Canyon of Heroes New Yorkers have seen.
It will honor the heroes who saved countless lives from the deadly virus and also celebrate “a renaissance” of the city, he said.
“I think this will be the greatest of all the parades because this one will speak to the rebirth of New York City,” de Blasio said. “This one will speak to a kind of heroism that is intrinsic to who we are as New Yorkers, to our values, to our compassion, to our strength, our recilency.”
All May and June parades in the city have been cancelled, but de Blasio said the city will get through the pandemic that has changed New Yorkers’ daily lives and eventually be able to host large events again.
“The day is coming when we will overcome this disease.”