NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Jalen Brunson held up the golden NBA championship trophy for a forest of outstretched hands to touch as fans celebrated the New York Knicks’ first title in 53 years with a booming parade through Manhattan’s skyscraper-flanked \u201cCanyon of Heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn, New York, we really did it,\u201d Brunson, the finals MVP, said at a celebration at City Hall. \u201cSomehow, someway, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moments later, Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented keys to the city to the Knicks’ players, coaches, owners and staff. Wearing a team jersey under his suit jacket, Mamdani said he and other fans \u201cwaited because we knew deep down in our sick, suffering hearts\u201d the Knicks would someday win.<\/p>\n
Blue and orange confetti swirled through the air during the parade. Massive cheers of \u201cLet\u2019s go, Knicks!\u201d and \u201cKnicks in five!\u201d kept erupting.<\/p>\n
And OG Anunoby, who scored the go-ahead basket in Game 4 of the finals on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, left his parade float to interact with fans, holding the NBA Cup in-season championship trophy in one hand and a bottle of Patron tequila in the other.<\/p>\n
Director Spike Lee, perhaps the team\u2019s most iconic fan, was on a float with Brunson, savoring the moment. \u201cI\u2019ve never been to a parade \u2014 ever \u2014 and I\u2019m glad it\u2019s this one,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
The MVP\u2019s mom, Sandra Brunson, wore a shirt with photos of Jalen and husband Rick, who played for the Knicks and is an assistant on coach Mike Brown’s staff. She echoed her son\u2019s words, saying, \u201cIt was all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy and a cigar on top of a parade bus while Mamdani danced. Later, Towns approached a group of kids with the NBA trophy to let them get their hands on it, bringing joyful screams.
\nKnicks fans turn out in force<\/p>\n
Several blocks from the parade route, fans stood shoulder to shoulder \u2014 sometimes on each other\u2019s shoulders \u2014 or climbed traffic lights and sanitation trucks. Far away on the Brooklyn Bridge, people gathered just to hear the loudspeakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to be here today,\u201d said Shareefa Wallace, 34, who got up at 3 a.m. to make her way from suburban Long Island. She grew up in the city going to Knicks games, and she sported the souvenir jersey of a legend from that era, Patrick Ewing.<\/p>\n
Owner James Dolan thanked fans for waiting more than a half-century. Brown encouraged fans to keep their energy going \u201cbecause this championship is about you guys.\u201d
\n\u2018The New York vibe\u2019<\/p>\n
Nearby bars and delis filled with fans, some wishing they\u2019d arrived at dawn. But many seemed at peace with only experiencing the parade from a distance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to be with the New York energy and the New York vibe,\u201d said Jean Strong, who came to the parade from Harlem with his nephew and sister.<\/p>\n
Terrell Emerson, a chef who grew up in Queens, said he drove from Maryland with his daughter Madison \u2014 named in honor of the Knicks’ home arena, Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
Beaming, Madison held a handwritten sign announcing she\u2019d skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be there.
\nStars and Knicks legends<\/p>\n
Knicks great Walt \u201cClyde\u201d Frazier \u2014 a member of the \u201970s champion teams \u2014 led the parade in a stylish convertible, wearing his NBA title rings. Frazier had late teammates and coaches on his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would be amazed at what has happened to the Knicks and how they\u2019ve really captivated the city this year,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cThis has exceeded any expectations I ever thought that we\u2019d have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Jon Stewart, Mariska Hargitay, Tracy Morgan and other celebrities joined the party, while Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen emceed the City Hall ceremony.<\/p>\n
Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the 2009 hit \u201cEmpire State of Mind,\u201d performed a medley that mixed her song with the classic \u201cNew York, New York.\u201d
\nA parade decades in the making<\/p>\n
The mere fact that the parade is happening is historic in itself. Although the Knicks won the championship twice in the 1970s, the city didn\u2019t host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons. Instead, he held a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jam-packed ceremony in 1973 outside City Hall.<\/p>\n
This time, the city went all out. A police officer could be seen holding a sign reading, \u201cThis is really happening.\u201d
\nAnd a massive security operation<\/p>\n
Officials said 10,000 police officers were deployed to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks’ title run, including a five-game final against San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Police said 10 people in the area around the parade were arrested and three others were issued summonses, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to felony assault. The Fire Department said it took 30 people to hospitals and treated 31 others at the scene for ailments that included heat-related emergencies, asthma and minor injuries.<\/p>\n
Before the parade, a small group of people were crushed against a barrier near Fulton Street, a key subway hub, pinned between a swelling crowd and a group of police officers shoving the barrier.<\/p>\n
Some 650 sanitation workers were assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide.
\nWhy does New York throw ticker-tape parades?<\/p>\n
Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era \u201cstock ticker\u201d machines. New York brokerage firm workers tossed the paper from office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling spectacle.<\/p>\n
Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades for visiting foreign leaders, historic anniversaries and feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more.<\/p>\n
The Knicks’ parade was the 210th, coming after a bash for the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2024.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz and Julie Walker in New York and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Southampton, New York, contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Jalen Brunson held up the golden NBA championship trophy for a forest of outstretched hands to touch as fans celebrated the New York Knicks’ first title in 53 years with a booming parade through Manhattan’s skyscraper-flanked \u201cCanyon of Heroes.\u201d \u201cDamn, New York, we really did it,\u201d Brunson, the finals MVP, said … Continue reading New York Knicks revel in their NBA victory parade as joyous fans and celebs fill the streets<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-06-21 03:37:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1516645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516646,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516645\/revisions\/1516646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1516645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1516645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1516645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}