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The city of Berkeley will foot the bill for a New York firefighter’s weekend adventure here as part of a national effort to thank the emergency workers who provided critical services to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Mayor Shirley Dean announced the visit after returning from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which was held in New York last week.  

“The entire country has been so impressed by the selflessness and heroism of New York City’s firefighters, police officers and emergency workers,” Dean said. “I am honored to welcome a New York Hero to Berkeley, and to show him or her the best of our city.”  

The firefighter will visit Berkeley during the weekend of March 2. 

New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial announced during the conference that 300 cities will be hosting firefighters in a program called Cities Unite America and Thank New York Firefighters. A firefighter will be picked by lottery from each of New York’s fire stations.  

According to Dean, two restaurants, Chez Panisse and Downtown have offered a taste of Berkeley cuisine to the firefighter and a guest on the cuff, and the Radisson Hotel at the Berkeley Marina is providing accommodations. The Berkeley Repertory Theater is also contributing VIP tickets for a presentation of “Culture Clash.” 

Dean said she was given a tour of Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center. 

“It was an overwhelming and moving experience,” she said. “The thing that got me was as we were walking around the site you would look down and see bits and pieces of recognizable rubble such as an old computer key and that’s when it hits home, you realize that 3,000 people died there.”