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LOWER MANHATTAN — The first responders who risked their lives on 9/11 deserve a ticker-tape parade through lower Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes, advocates said this week.
A parade would boost the spirits of responders who were left out of the city's official 9/11 commemoration, and it would give those who are sick something to looking forward to, said TJ Gilmartin, a construction worker who spent nearly 300 hours at Ground Zero.
"All we want is a 'Thank you' — that's it," said Gilmartin, 50, a New Jersey resident who is suffering from respiratory ailments and acid reflux following his exposure to World Trade Center toxins.
"No one seems to care about the responders."
A Facebook group in favor of the parade has gathered nearly 1,100 members, and on Monday night, Community Board 1's World Trade Center Redevelopment Committee added its vote of support as well. Now the parade has to clear the mayor's office before it can become a reality.
A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not immediately return a call for comment.
Gilmartin has been planning the parade with the help of Jill Singer, an advocate for first responders, and said Monday that they hope to hold it during the week of May 25, 2012, the 10 year anniversary of when the last steel beam was removed from Ground Zero.
Singer said the parade would not just be for the NYPD and FDNY, whose members are often recognized, but also for the thousands of ironworkers, heavy machine operators and other construction workers who volunteered for the recovery effort, and many of which are now sick.
"It's the people who went down there and just put their heart on the line," Singer said. "They've been ignored."
Catherine McVay Hughes, chairwoman of the committee, said that while ticker-tape parades are often reserved for triumphant sports teams, it's important to remember why the Broadway parade route is referred to as the "Canyon of Heroes."
"There should be a 'thank you' for the real heroes, who were down on the front lines and came to our war zone," she said.
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