NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Mayor Bill de Blasio presented the key to the city to the family of late NYPD Detective Lou Alvarez in an emotional ceremony Tuesday.
"It's time for this city that he loved, that he served, that loved him back, to honor him in a way that will make him part of our history forever," de Blasio said.
Alvarez spent the final years of his life fighting to secure health coverage for 9/11 first responders.
This past June, the 53-year-old famously testified at a Congressional hearing, convincing lawmakers to permanently fund the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.
Later that month, Alvarez died from colorectal cancer, a disease that was a direct result from his work at ground zero in the months after the 9/11 attacks.
Comedian and 9/11 advocate Jon Stewart, who grew close to Alvarez, called him a quiet hero who couldn't resist his call for duty.
"I don't think he ever could have looked at a situation that he felt he could help in and not help. It's just who he was," Stewart said.
At the end of the ceremony, the mayor asked attendees to give a standing ovation so Alvarez could hear them up in heaven.