De Blasio: Parade For Women's World Cup Winners Will Be 'Magical'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio said the parade New York City is throwing for the World Cup-winning U.S. women's soccer team will be "magical.''
The team will be honored with a parade in lower Manhattan up the stretch of Broadway from the Battery to City Hall known as the "Canyon of Heroes'' on Friday.
CBS2's Dave Carlin spoke with midfielder and New Jersey native Carli Lloyd Thursday as she awaited the festivities.
"I feel great," Lloyd said. "It's been a whirlwind."
And Lloyd was enthusiastic about the whirlwind of attention still to come.
"It's an honor, really," she said. "I think we're really excited, and we're ready to see the big crowd tomorrow."
EXTRAS: Guide To NYC's U.S. Women's World Cup Parade | Complete Parade Coverage
The team captured the World Cup by defeating Japan on Sunday. All 23 members are expected to attend the parade.
"The Canyon of Heroes is one of the great New York traditions," de Blasio told reporters, including 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa and WCBS 880's Rich Lamb.
NYC Prepares To Throw Parade For Women's World Cup Winners
The cost to the city is an estimated $1.5 million dollars, with $500,000 more coming from corporate sponsors.
The mayor admitted his administration didn't come up with the idea.
"We didn't think of it in advance, but when people said, 'Hey, we should do this, this belongs in New York City, it's an extraordinary moment in American history,' it didn't take us long to say, 'Hey, you're right,'" de Blasio said. "It took some real quick work to figure out how to do it logistically, but we were able to pull it together. The response has been overwhelming."
Mike Hopper worked for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration on similar events.
"Ticker-tape parades in New York City are a huge challenge. You need to coordinate with every city agency, from sanitation, police, fire, down to Department of Design to make sure there's no construction during that period," Hopper said.
As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, the call came into Bond Parade Floats on Tuesday for at first 10, then 12 parade floats for Friday.
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"Not a problem, you know, it's something we're used to. We've done the Yankees parade in the past, a couple of Giants parades. So, once we got the call then we knew what we had to do," said Robert De Vito inside the Bond Parade Floats warehouse in Clifton, New Jersey.
One employee was busy putting together a massive globe.
"And it says 'We are the champions.' It's one of our bigger props and very popular too," a man named Jack said.
Meanwhile the confetti is ready to fly – made out of donated, recycled paper. Boxes of it will be dropped off at buildings along the parade route so people can launch confetti from the highest windows.
"It's perfect. It's nice and flowy and soft, and it's very light, and it will stay in the air a long time as it comes down," said Jim Pellegrino.
The team will also be awarded keys to the city at a City Hall ceremony.
De Blasio said that the victory was "an extraordinary moment in U.S. history'' and deserves to be honored in the nation's largest city.
Spotlight Also Shining On Lower Manhattan During Parade
"This team captured the imagination of the nation and their victory, I think, sends a message about the strength of women, the power of women," de Blasio said.
"Their victory, I think, sends a message about the changes we need to make in our society," he said. "If we're going to have a more equal society, this victory will send a powerful message about it. If we are going to have pay equity, this victory sends a message about it."
Local residents seem generally pleased that New York City is hosting the parade.
"I think it's awesome. I think it's a great way to celebrate a fantastic success for the women's soccer team," Galvin Guerrero told CBS2's Valerie Castro.
As the team steps off for its ticker-tape parade, the world's largest free-flying American flag will be unfurled at the George Washington Bridge.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the 450-pound flag will be flown between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the upper arch of the bridge's New Jersey tower to pay tribute to the team.
The Empire State Building will also shine its tower lights in red, white and blue on Friday to celebrate the World Cup champions.
De Blasio: Parade For Women's World Cup Winners Will Be 'Magical'
The parade is estimated to cost about $2 million, with $450,000 coming from private donations and corporate sponsorships.
Jessica Lappin, president of the Downtown Alliance, told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell her group is getting about 2 tons of confetti for the event to offer to buildings along the parade route, and some buildings will contribute their own.
The team was already honored at a rally in Los Angeles and has been invited to the White House.
Meanwhile, the success of the U.S. women's soccer team is providing a boost to soccer-related businesses and young fans, Haskell reported.
"A lot of people didn't really expect that we would sell so many jerseys, but we did actually," Ingrid Quevedo, who works at Upper 90, a soccer store on the Upper West Side.
Ten-year-old Clara said she watched the World Cup final on television.
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"Wow, I was like blown away the whole time I was watching it," she said.
The team is inspiring, said Clara, who is wondering if someday she, too, can make the national team.
"They just started like really young like me, and they're all the way here," she said.
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