Knicks fans gear up for parade in NYC as championship celebration continues
Knicks fans in New York City aren't done celebrating just yet. The massive victory parade, after winning the NBA Championship Saturday night, is set for 10 a.m. Thursday in Lower Manhattan.
Merchandise is flying off store shelves as fans look ahead to what could be the biggest celebration in city history.
On Sunday, fans flooded stores looking for championship hats, shirts and jerseys, hoping to commemorate a season they will never forget. On Monday, lines for the NBA Store in Midtown wrapped around the block.
According to the apparel line Fanatics, the Knicks are the top-selling team for championship merch within the first 24 hours of clinching, and are on pace to be the overall best seller.
Knicks parade details
The team will ride through New York City's famed Canyon of Heroes for the first time. The Knicks' championships in 1970 and 1973 were celebrated at more informal receptions.
"It will be the first ticker-tape parade in Knicks history, where New Yorkers will be able to celebrate a moment that feels like we've waited an entire lifetime for," said Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The parade route will kick off at Battery Park and end at City Hall.
Mamdani will host a championship celebration and a key-to-the-city ceremony at City Hall Plaza right after the parade.
"It may well be the largest parade in New York City history. And I think that speaks to what this team means to this city," Mamdani said. "It also speaks to 53 years of waiting. It speaks to 26 years since the last time we were in the finals."
The Canyon of Heroes route gets its name from the towering skyscrapers that line Broadway through the Financial District, making the street feel like a canyon as confetti falls from above.
Andrew Breslau, the senior vice president for the Alliance for Downtown New York, said his organization is providing the confetti for the city's 210th ticker-tape parade, a celebration woven into the Big Apple's history dating to 1886.
"At that time, Broadway was filled with brokerage houses, and then there were things called ticker-tapes that fed information about the state of the market and trading, and all the brokers love the people marching up Broadway and shared in their excitement and opened up their windows and threw out ticker-tapes as confetti to celebrate the Statue of Liberty, and that's how it all began, Breslau said.
The Alliance for Downtown New York plans to distribute 2,500 pounds of confetti to 22 buildings along the parade route.
City agencies are coordinating security, transit and crowd control operations. They are urging fans to arrive early, use public transportation and be prepared for street closures throughout Lower Manhattan.
Fans still reveling in the big win
For many, this is the first Knicks championship they have ever seen.
"I was born in '73, so I've never seen a championship, so this is amazing," one woman said.
Fan David Rosen said it was an emotional night.
"Last night I was screaming and screaming, and when I got home the tears just started flowing," he said.
"To experience this with my kids. That's what I told them. They made history. It's amazing," said lifelong fan Lissette Acuna.
Sadly for some younger fans, tests may get in the way of their fun. The parade falls on the same day as New York State Regents exams.
"I knew immediately, oh my gosh, I have the Earth and Space Science Regents that day, and I felt almost like crushed," Knicks fan Jayden King said.
King launched a petition on change.org in the hope of moving the test to another date. Nearly 200 people have signed it so far, but the New York State Department of Education told CBS News New York there will be no changes to the test schedule.
