After an activist prodded him on national TV Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he will posthumously award a key to the city to Luis Alvarez– the 9/11 first responder who succumbed to colon cancer just days after delivering a powerful plea to Congress to replenish the fund for other victims who worked at Ground Zero.
“This city can never repay its debt to Detective Lou Alvarez. It will be my honor to award him with a posthumous Key to the City as a symbol of our profound respect and gratitude for his service and sacrifice,” the mayor tweeted Monday.
The tribute comes just hours after John Feal, another advocate and first responder, went on CNN’s “New Day” and asked the mayor to “give Luis the key.”
Alvarez, a retired NYPD bomb squad detective, died Saturday at age 53 from complications of colon cancer linked to the time he spent at Ground Zero.
He appeared recently with comedian Jon Stewart before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing for an extension of the fund for cops, firefighters and other first responders who became ill after working at the World Trade Center site.