Since 1886, New York City has honored politicians, generals, organizations, military veterans, athletes, and others with ticker-tape parades. Parades are traditionally held along a section of Broadway, known as the "Canyon of Heroes", from the Battery to City Hall. Each of these 206 parades has been commemorated by the Alliance for Downtown New York City with a granite strip, installed in 2004.
1880s
- 1886
- October 28 â Statue of Liberty dedication (impromptu).
- 1889
- April 29 â Centennial of George Washington's inauguration as first president of the United States
1890s
1910s
1920s
- 1921
- October 19 â General Armando Diaz, Italian commander.
- October 28 â Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France.
- 1922
- April 24 â Joseph Joffre, Marshal of France.
- November 18 â Georges Clemenceau, former premier of France.
- 1923
- October 5 â David Lloyd George, former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1924
- August 6 â U.S. Olympic athletes (Paris, Chamonix)
- 1925
- October 21 â Captain Paul C. Grening and the crew of the SS President Harding for heroic sea rescue.
- 1926
- February 16 â Captain George Fried and the crew of the SS President Roosevelt for heroic sea rescue.
- May 27 â Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louise of Sweden
- June 23 â Commander Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett, flight over the North Pole
- July 2 â Bobby Jones, winner of the British Open golf tournament
- August 27 â Gertrude Ederle, first woman to swim the English Channel
- September 10 â Amelia Gade Corson, first mother and second woman to swim the English Channel
- October 18 â Queen Marie of Romania.
- 1927
- June 13 â Charles Lindbergh, following solo transatlantic flight.
- July 18 â "Double" parade for Commander Richard Byrd and the crew of the America; and for Clarence Chamberlin and Charles A. Levine following separate transatlantic flights.
- November 11 â Ruth Elder and George W. Haldeman following flight from New York City to the Azores.
- 1928
- January 20 â W. T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.
- April 25 â Hermann Köhl, Major James Fitzmaurice, and Baron von Hünefeld following first westward transatlantic flight
- August 22 â U.S. Olympic athletes.
- May 4 â Prince Ludovico Spada Potenziani, governor of Rome
- July 6 â Amelia Earhart, Wilmer Stultz, and Louis E. Gordon, following their transatlantic flight
- September 20 â Aimé Tschiffely, Swiss-Argentine horse rider from Buenos Aires to New York
- October 16 â Hugo Eckener and the crew of the Graf Zeppelin
- 1929
- January 28 â Captain George Fried and the crew of the America for rescue of the Italian freighter Florida
- August 30 â Hugo Eckener and the crew of the Graf Zeppelin after round the world trip
- October 4 â James Ramsay MacDonald, prime minister of the United Kingdom
1930s
- 1930
- May 26 â Marquis Jacques de Dampierre, passenger aboard the Lafayette
- June 11 â Júlio Prestes, president-elect of Brazil.
- June 18 â Rear Admiral Richard Byrd following expedition to Antarctica.
- July 2 â Bobby Jones, winner of the British Amateur and British Open golf tournaments.
- September 4 â Captain Dieudonne Coste and Maurice Bellonte following flight from Paris to New York City.
- 1931
- July 2 â Wiley Post and Harold Gatty following round-the-world flight.
- September 2 â Olin Stephens Jr. and the crew of Dorade, winners of a transatlantic yacht race from Newport, R.I., to Plymouth, England
- October 22 â Pierre Laval, Prime Minister of France.
- October 26 â Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France.
- November 30 â Dino Grandi, Foreign Minister of Italy
- 1932
- June 20 â Amelia Earhart following transatlantic flight.
- 1933
- July 21 â Air Marshal Italo Balbo and crew for flight from Rome to Chicago in 25 Italian seaplanes.
- July 26 â Wiley Post following eight-day round-the-world flight.
- August 1 â Amy Johnson and her husband Jim Mollison following westward transatlantic flight, from Wales to Connecticut.
- 1936
- September 3 â Jesse Owens following winning four gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
- 1938
- July 15 â Howard Hughes, following three-day flight around the world.
- August 5 â Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan following flight from New York City to Ireland (he was scheduled to fly to California).
- 1939
- April 27 â Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway.
- May 1 â Rear Admiral Alfred W. Johnson, commander of the Atlantic Squadron.
1940s
- 1945
- June 19 â General Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
- August 27 â General Charles de Gaulle, interim president of France.
- September 14 â General Jonathan Wainwright, hero of Corregidor.
- October 9 â Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz.
- October 27 â President Harry S. Truman.
- December 14 â Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey.
- 1946
- January 12 â New York City Victory Parade of 1946: 82nd Airborne Division (United States) James M. Gavin New York native. Chosen as the All American Division to represent the Army and the end of WWII.
- March 14 â Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom
- October 23 â Delegates to the first plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly.
- 1947
- January 13 â Alcide De Gasperi, premier of Italy.
- February 7 â Viscount Harold Alexander of Tunis, governor general of Canada
- May 2 â Miguel Alemán Valdés, president of Mexico
- November 5 - Crew of Warship Georges Leygues for bringing rare French tapestries to exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- November 18 â U.S.-to-Europe "Friendship Train" bearing gifts and supplies.
- 1948
- March 9 â ÃÂamon de Valera, former Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland.
- July 7 â Rómulo Gallegos, president of Venezuela
- 1949
- February 3 â France-to-U.S. Merci Train bearing gifts in appreciation of the "Friendship Train"
- May 19 â General Lucius D. Clay, military governor of Germany.
- May 23 â Eurico Gaspar Dutra, president of Brazil.
- August 11 â Elpidio Quirino, president of the Philippines
- August 19 â Connie Mack, on his fiftieth anniversary as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.
- September 17 â Forty-eight European journalists on "American discovery" flight around United States.
- October 4 â American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps national championship.
- October 17 â Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister of India.
1950s
- 1950
- April 17 â Gabriel González Videla, president of Chile.
- April 28 â Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid.
- May 8 â Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- August 4 â Robert Gordon Menzies, prime minister of Australia.
- August 22 â Lt. General Clarence R. Huebner
- August 31 â William O'Dwyer, recently resigned New York City mayor
- December â Ralph Bunche, United Nations mediator
- 1951
- April 3 â Vincent Auriol, president of France
- April 20 â General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
- May 9 â David Ben-Gurion, prime minister of Israel
- May 24 â U.S. 4th Infantry Division 8th Regimental Combat Team, first troops sent overseas in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- June 25 â Galo Plaza Lasso, president of Ecuador
- September 17 â Sir Denys Lowson, Lord Mayor of the City of London.
- September 28 â Alcide De Gasperi, prime minister of Italy.
- October 29 â United Nations servicemen wounded in Korea.
- November 13 â Women of the armed forces
- 1952
- January 17 â Captain Henrik Kurt Carlsen, following rescue of the crew of the Flying Enterprise
- April 7 â Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
- July 7 â U.S. Olympic team.
- July 18 â Commodore Harry Manning and the crew of the United States following new speed record crossing the Atlantic.
- December 18 â Lt. General Willis D. Crittenberger. World War II combat commander in Italy and retiring commander of US First Army headquartered at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York.
- 1953
- January 30 â Vice Admiral Walter S. DeLany, Commander of the Navy's Eastern Sea Frontier and the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
- April 3 â Metropolitan New York Combat Contingent, first troop transport to return from Korea.
- April 24 â Lt. General James A. Van Fleet.
- July 21 â Ben Hogan, winner of the Triple Crown of Golf.
- October 1 â José Antonio Remón Cantera, president of Panama
- October 20 â General Mark W. Clark
- October 26 â Major General William F. Dean
- November 2 â King Paul and Queen Friederike of Greece.
- 1954
- February 1 â Celal Bayar, president of Turkey.
- April 22 â U.S. 4th Infantry Division, following return from Korea
- June 1 â Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia.
- July 26 â Lieutenant Geneviève de Galard-Terraube, the "Angel of Dien Bien Phu".
- August 2 â Syngman Rhee, president of South Korea.
- September 27 â New York Giants, winners of the National League pennant.
- October 28 â William V.S. Tubman, president of Liberia.
- November 19 â Lt. Gen. Withers A. Burress, retiring Commander of the First Army
- 1955
- January 31 â Paul Eugène Magloire, president of Haiti.
- August 11 â Order of the Knights of Pythias.
- November 4 â Carlos Castillo Armas, president of Guatemala.
- December 9 â Luis Batlle Berres, president of Uruguay.
- 1956
- March 12 â Giovanni Gronchi, president of Italy.
- May 15 â Armed Forces Day.
- May 23 â Sukarno, president of Indonesia.
- 1957
- May 2 â Navy League tribute for 60 commanders of the Navy and Marines during World War II.
- May 13 â Ngo Dinh Diem, president of South Vietnam.
- July 2 â Captain Alan J. Villiers and the crew of the Mayflower II.
- July 11 â Althea Gibson, winner of the Wimbledon women's singles championship.
- October 21 â Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
- December 9 â King Mohammed V of Morocco.
- 1958
- May 20 â Van Cliburn, winner of the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition. The only musician to ever receive a ticker tape parade tribute.
- June 20 â Theodor Heuss, president of West Germany.
- June 23 â Carlos P. Garcia, president of the Philippines.
- August 27 â Rear Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, Commander William Anderson, and the crew of the USS Nautilus.
- 1959
- January 29 â Arturo Frondizi, president of Argentina.
- February 10 â Willy Brandt, mayor of West Berlin.
- March 13 â José MarÃÂa Lemus, president of El Salvador.
- March 20 â Seán T. O'Kelly, President of Ireland.
- May 29 â King Baudouin of Belgium.
- September 11 â Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.
- October 14 â Adolfo López Mateos, president of Mexico.
- November 4 â Ahmed Sékou Touré, president of Guinea.
1960s
- 1960
- March 9 â Carol Heiss, Olympic figure skating gold medalist.
- April 11 â Alberto Lleras Camargo, president of Colombia.
- April 26 â Charles de Gaulle, president of France.
- July 5 â King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara of Thailand.
- October 14 â King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark
- October 19 â John F. Kennedy, Democratic presidential nominee.
- November 2 â President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon, Republican presidential nominee.
- 1961
- April 10 â New York Yankees, winners of the American League pennant.
- May 11 â Habib Bourguiba, president of Tunisia.
- October 13 â Ibrahim Abboud, president of Sudan.
- October 27 â builders and crew of the USS Constellation
- 1962
- March 1 â John Glenn, following the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission.
- April 5 â João Goulart, president of Brazil.
- April 9 â New York Yankees, winners of the World Series.
- April 12 â New York Mets, upon entering the National League.
- April 16 â Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Empress Farah of Iran.
- May 25 â Félix Houphouët-Boigny, president of Ivory Coast.
- June 5 â Scott Carpenter, following the Mercury 7 mission.
- June 8 â Archbishop Makarios, head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church and president of Cyprus.
- June 14 â Roberto F. Chiari, president of Panama.
- 1963
- January 17 â Antonio Segni, president of Italy.
- April 1 â King Hassan II of Morocco.
- May 22 â Gordon Cooper, following the Mercury 9 mission.
- June 10 â Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, president of India.
- September 10 â King Mohammed Zahir Shah and Queen Humaira of Afghanistan.
- October 4 â Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia.
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Individuals honored with multiple parades
Richard E. Byrd (3), George Fried (2), Bobby Jones (2), Amelia Earhart (2), Wiley Post (2), Dwight D. Eisenhower (2), Hugo Eckener (2), Charles de Gaulle (2), Haile Selassie (2), John Glenn (2), Alcide De Gasperi (2).
Sports teams honored
New York Yankees (9), United States Olympics team (5, plus 2 individual parades for Jesse Owens and Carol Heiss), New York Mets (3), New York Giants (football) (2), United States women's national soccer team (2), New York Giants (baseball) (1), New York Rangers (1). New York Liberty
Potential revisions
In 2017, then Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Twitter that he intended to have Marshall Pétain's plaque removed from the Canyon of Heroes. This happened after a national debate over the propriety of Confederate monuments spilled over into a reassessment of monuments in general. Pétain was honored in 1931 for his service in World War I. After France's defeat by Germany, he advocated surrender rather than resistance; Pétain headed the Nazi collaborationist government of Vichy France from 1940–1944. France itself has largely removed all commemoration for Pétain; the last street named after him was renamed in 2010.
References
Bibliography
- Kenneth T. Jackson, ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City; Yale University Press (1995), 2nd ed., (2010).
- Felix Riesenberg, Yankee Skippers to the Rescue; Ayer Publishing (1969), p. 66;