New York, which is the city in the United States most bereaved by the coronavirus, paid a moving tribute to its 30,258 dead, a year after the start of the pandemic.
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“We have lost more New Yorkers than in WWII, the Vietnam War, Hurricane Sandy and 9/11 combined. Every family has been affected, and for so many families there is pain, raw pain, ”Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a live virtual ceremony, after asking to observe a minute of silence in homage to the victims.
photo-source position-absolute"> Getty Images via AFP
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The democratic councilor notably mentioned the “health heroes” who “saved lives”, sometimes at their expense, and also asked to remember the good times.
“Whatever happens, no one can take the dances you have already danced from you!” Said Bill de Blasio in Spanish, quoting a quote from the Colombian writer and Nobel Prize winner for literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in an city where a third of immigrants are of Latin origin.
The virtual ceremony began with a short New York Philharmonic recital, in front of lit candles on the iconic Brooklyn Bridge on a freezing, windy night. Large black and white photos of the victims were projected onto the bridge.
There were speeches by religious leaders, a young poet, witnesses, as well as the participation of Hezekiah Walker, pastor of the great Brooklyn Church (Love Fellowship Tabernacle Church) and popular gospel artist, accompanied by the choir. The Love Fellowship.
photo-source position-absolute"> Getty Images via AFP
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