Knicks Championship Parade Draws Massive Crowds in New York

New York Knicks fans turned Manhattan into a sea of blue and orange on Thursday as they celebrated the team's NBA Finals victory with a massive parade. The event ended a 53-year championship drought, with fans cheering "Let's go Knicks" throughout the crowd. Many attendees had paid hundreds of dollars for line sitters to hold their spots overnight. The parade, organized by Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration, was secured by 10,000 NYPD officers—the largest ever deployment for a planned event in the city. Public viewing areas were full three hours before the start, forcing some latecomers to find alternative spots, including scaling a city dump truck that had been placed as a security barrier. The parade route ran from Bowling Green to City Hall along the historic "Canyon of Heroes," where 2,500 pounds (1.1 tonnes) of recycled confetti were showered on the participants. At City Hall, Mayor Mamdani presented the team with a symbolic key to the city, and Alicia Keys performed "Empire State of Mind." "The Knicks unite the city unlike any other team. We were starved for so long," said 29-year-old Anthony Martorelli, a retail worker. Jalen Brunson, named the 2026 NBA Finals MVP, thanked fans for their support. "Somehow, some way, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done," he said. Retiree James Smallwood, 62, recalled the Knicks' last championship in 1973, when he was nine. "I'm a five-time cancer survivor, so this means so much to see," he added. The parade added to traffic chaos in a city already hosting World Cup fans, with numerous street closures across Manhattan.