26 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 8, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Hometown Heroes
Hometown Heroes! New York City’s essential workers
BY DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
A city showed its thanks to the heroes of
the last 17 months through an extravagant
parade Wednesday, July 7.
During the height of the COVID-19
pandemic, the term essential worker
was coined and healthcare professionals,
supermarket employees, educational
staff , fi refi ghters, and more were elevated
to hero status. Now, as the Big Apple
emerges from the ashes of the worst global
health crisis in over a century, a who’s
who of elected offi cials lined up to demonstrate
their gratitude in front of a legion
of television cameras and a roaring crowd
of supporters.
The parade, dubbed “Hometown
Heroes,” was the largest ticker-tape
parade to grace New York City
in history and the fi rst procession
in almost two years.
Kicking off at 11 a.m.
in Battery Park, the
event was helmed
by Mayor Bill
de Blasio, First
Lady Chirlane
Irene McCray,
and the parade’s
grand marshal
Sandra Lindsay,
a Queens nurse
who was the
fi rst person in
the United States
to receive the
COVID-19 vaccine.
While several politicians including
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer,
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, and
Democrat primary mayoral candidate
Eric Adams extended their arms in gratitude,
the eyes of the city were fi rmly set
on the cavalcade of essential workers who
kept the city going through the harshest
of times.
Plumes of confetti burst through the
air from a convoy of 14 fl oats and rained
from high rising buildings and down onto
about 260 varying workers who drove and
marched through the Canyon of Heroes,
stretching along Broadway from Battery
Park to City Hall.
“Let’s thank our health care heroes! You
guys are amazing! Th ank you to the nurs-
Mayor de Blasio and fi rst lady Chirlane McCray
with grand marshal Sandra Lindsay, the
fi rst nurse to receive the
vaccine in the United
States.
Confetti falls from the sky. Mr. Met joined in on the fun.
Photos by Dean Moses
Staff members from St. John’s Episcopal Hospital march in the parade.
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