New Yorkers turned out in force on Wednesday for a parade to honour the essential workers who helped a city that was once the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic turn the tide on Covid-19.
The ticker-tape celebration kicked off at 11am, with marching bands and 2,500 people taking part in an event to celebrate the everyday heroes who risked their lives during the worst public health crisis in more than a century.
“Our son is marching in the parade. He's a healthcare worker, he’s one of the heroes,” said Eleanor Rahim, who was in the city centre with her family to cheer on 51-year-old Murad, who helped set up Covid-19 vaccination centres.
New York City was an early epicentre of the pandemic in the US and has recorded almost 100,000 cases and 33,500 deaths, but lockdowns and an effective vaccination campaign have returned a sense of normality to the metropolis that is home to 8.4 million people.
Two thirds of adults statewide are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and many of the city’s restaurants, cinemas and sport arenas have reopened despite concerns about the pathogen’s more virulent Delta variant.
“You get a feeling that things are opening up and coming alive again,” Ms Rahim told The National.
The parade started in Battery Park and travelled up Broadway in lower Manhattan, the famous stretch known as the Canyon of Heroes, which has hosted parades honouring leaders, celebrities and winning sport teams for more than a century.
The last parade before the pandemic paid tribute to the US women’s football team after their 2019 World Cup win.
City officials said the parade’s grand marshal was Sandra Lindsay, a healthcare worker who was the first person in the country to receive a Covid-19 vaccine shot in December.
Other workers being honoured included transport workers, first responders, education and childcare providers, and utility workers.
“We’ve got a lot to appreciate because we’re well under way in our recovery. We’ve got a lot to celebrate and we’ve got a lot of people to celebrate,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“They deserve a march down the Canyon of Heroes because it’s something that is reserved for the greatest folks in history. Well, here are some of the folks who made history in New York City’s toughest hour,” he said.
The parade took place amid high summer temperatures, which scaled back the celebrations, and against the backdrop of the grim milestone of the global death toll from the virus reaching four million.
Still, Jamie Rahim, 44, Eleanor's daughter-in-law, said Covid was no longer the main threat to a city that has this past year also been affected by racial justice protests and calls to cut police funding despite a rise in gun crime.
“We love the city and we hope that it comes back to where it was before,” she said.
“Now that we’re vaccinated, we’re not so worried about the virus. But the city is not the same as it used to be because of issues regarding police and race issues.”
