New York City to host ‘Hometown Heroes’ ticker tape parade July 7

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that New York City will host a ticker tape parade next month to honor the city’s “hometown heroes,” referring to the front-line workers who played a large role in the fight against COVID-19.

The parade will take place July 7 in New York’s Canyon of Heroes along Broadway in lower Manhattan.

“I said the first parade back, the first true large parade in New York City will be one to celebrate the heroes of the fight against COVID, our health care heroes who were extraordinary and need to be remembered for the ages, our first responders, our essential workers, the people who kept us alive, that people who kept the city going no matter what,” de Blasio said at a press briefing Monday.

“We are going to hold a parade to honor them, to thank them, to celebrate them,” he continued.

De Blasio said he chose the July 7 date for the parade because it falls after the July 1 benchmark for when he said the city would fully reopen, and follows July 4 celebrations.

The mayor said the parade will “have a special spirit” and “a special heart and soul” because it is celebrating “everyday New Yorkers who did something so heroic and need our thanks.”

“It’s time for the parade to celebrate our hometown heroes,” de Blasio added.

De Blasio said the event, which will be “a parade you will remember for the rest of your life,” is going to feature floats for front-line workers, including health care workers, first responders, educators, municipal workers, transportation workers, grocery and bodega workers and delivery staff.

He said it will be a day to “celebrate and appreciate the heroes who often go unsung.”

“We’re always going to remember the pain and the tragedy of COVID. No one is going to ever forget those we lost and what families are still going through. But we need a day to celebrate the heroism of everyday New Yorkers,” de Blasio said.

The news of the ticker tape parade comes as New York City continues to vaccinate its residents. According to the city’s health website, 46.8 percent of New York City residents are fully vaccinated, and 53.5 percent have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

New York City is also planning a mega-concert in August in Central Park to celebrate the city’s reopening.