Ticker tape parade recap: New York celebrates COVID-19 essential workers

The parade took place along the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan.

ByEmily Shapiro
Last Updated: July 7, 2021, 9:48 PM EDT

Confetti filled the streets of lower Manhattan on Wednesday as New Yorkers gathered for a ticker tape parade honoring the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Called the Hometown Heroes Parade, the event was held along the Canyon of Heroes, nearly 16 months after New York City became the nation's first COVID-19 epicenter.

Latest headlines:

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.
Jul 07, 2021, 11:35 AM EDT

Sounds of marching band, cheers echo through the streets

As the confetti falls, the sounds of marching bands and revelers are echoing through the streets. New Yorkers are standing on the sides of the parade route, cheering, ringing bells and holding "Thank you" signs while the floats and bands move through.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, New York City's seven-day average positivity rate is now 0.96%. More than 605,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19.

People wave to the crowd from a float during the "Hometown Heroes" ticker tape parade, honoring healthcare and essential workers, July 7, 2021 in New York, for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WABC

Jul 07, 2021, 11:00 AM EDT

Ticker tape parade underway 

The ticker tape parade along lower Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes is underway.

The 14 parade floats represent 260 groups of essential workers, including first responders, small business employees, delivery workers and childcare employees.

Queens nurse Sandra Lindsay, who was the first person in the U.S. to get the COVID-19 vaccine, is the parade’s Grand Marshal.

PHOTO: Grand marshal Sandra Lindsay, a health care worker who was the first person in the country to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot, waves to spectators during a parade honoring essential workers, July 7, 2021, in New York City.
Grand marshal Sandra Lindsay, a health care worker who was the first person in the country to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot, waves to spectators as confetti falls during a parade honoring essential workers for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, July 7, 2021, in New York City.
John Minchillo/AP

PHOTO: Nurse Sandra Lindsay from Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, waves to the crowd while riding in the "Hometown Heroes" ticker tape parade, July 7, 2021, in New York City.
Nurse Sandra Lindsay from Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, waves to the crowd while riding in the "Hometown Heroes" ticker tape parade, July 7, 2021, in New York City. Healthcare Workers, first responders and essential workers were honored in Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes for their service during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Jul 07, 2021, 8:49 AM EDT

Pittsburgh nurse who came to NYC for COVID returns to ride on float

Justin Davis, a traveling nurse with AMN Healthcare, left his wife and three children behind in Pittsburgh to care for COVID-19 patients in an overwhelmed Manhattan hospital when the pandemic began.

"Never seen anything like it," said Davis, who trained as an Army field medic and has been a nurse for 17 years. "I had more bodies, not enough people to take care. There were unqualified people there because there was nobody else."

When New York's crisis subsided, he moved to COVID hot spots in Orlando and Buffalo.

He will ride atop one of 14 floats that will make its way through the shower of confetti on Wednesday.

Davis told ABC News the parade is also a way to put his pandemic work behind him.

"I’ll accept the thanks," he said. 

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Jul 07, 2021, 7:53 AM EDT

Ceremony scaled back due to heat

The City Hall ceremony at the end of the parade will be "a much smaller, stripped down version" than originally planned due to the heat, Mayor de Blasio said Tuesday.

"We will be greeting the marchers at the end of the parade and thanking them," de Blasio said. "Not a big ceremony, but the parade itself of course will be the central salute to our heroes."

"We will be adding additional cooling centers and water stations along the route," the mayor added.

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

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