NYC plans ticker-tape parade for post-9/11 war veterans in Lower Manhattan

New York City will host a ticker-tape parade honoring combat veterans of post-9/11 wars in July 2026, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration said.

The parade, announced during the city’s annual Fleet Week, will roughly coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and will proceed down the stretch of Lower Manhattan known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” between Bowling Green and City Hall.

Local officials said the parade will be the first of its kind in any major U.S. city and is dedicated to the 2.9 million Americans who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It is scheduled for July 6, 2025.

“The ‘Homecoming of Heroes’ parade is not merely a celebration — it is a historic moment in which a major city unites to solemnly honor the extraordinary service, sacrifice, and resilience of our post-9/11 combat veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Adams said in a statement. “Our veterans and their families matter to us — not just during the wartime they fought in, but in the peacetime they achieved.”

Excited to announce that next summer, our city will host the first-ever ticker tape parade for post-9/11 service members and veterans!

We're the FIRST big city in America to hold this type of celebration, and it’s just another way we're showing our veterans and their families…

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) May 23, 2025

More than 7,000 U.S. troops were killed during the wars, and another 53,000 were injured, according to City Hall. Most post-9/11 service members were deployed more than once, said James Hendon, commissioner of the city’s Department of Veterans' Services. And more than 31,000 of these veterans died by suicide as of 2021, more than four times the number of those killed in action, officials said.

“This memorial is a tribute that promises to stand as a lasting testament to our fallen heroes and their families — the first of what we pray will be more,” Hendon said Thursday at an event where the parade was unveiled.

Members of city and state agencies who served during and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks will participate in the parade as well, according to city officials.

The International Naval Review, a major maritime event co-hosted by the U.S. Navy and New York City and tied to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, is also set to take place during the week of the parade. The review will feature various warships and vessels across the city’s waterways, from the Verrazano Bridge up to the George Washington Bridge.

New York City’s ticker-tape parades date back to when the city welcomed home soldiers after World War I. They have also been held for visiting heads of state and champion sports teams — most recently the New York Liberty.