{"id":271192,"date":"2026-06-18T19:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271192\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T19:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:56:16","slug":"from-the-subway-to-the-streets-new-york-gave-the-knicks-the-celebratory-parade-they-deserved-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271192\/","title":{"rendered":"From the subway to the streets, New York gave the Knicks the celebratory parade they deserved"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Knicks’ championship ticker-tape parade on Thursday<\/a> was one for the ages, as an estimated 1 million fans came out in full force, flooding the streets of lower Manhattan with orange and blue.<\/p>\n

Hours before the parade even began at 10 a.m. ET, Knicks fans packed the sidewalk viewing pens along Broadway in the Financial District. The New York Police Department issued an alert at 7:30 a.m. ET to say they were full and that no one else was allowed in the viewing area.<\/p>\n

Some Knicks fans expressed their disappointment at being unable to access the viewing area, despite showing up hours before the start.<\/p>\n

Below the crowded city streets, the subways were insanely packed. CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez shared in an X post early Thursday morning that it took him about half an hour just to exit a nearby subway station.<\/p>\n

Some fans scaled fixtures and the sides of buildings in hopes of a better view.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People attend a championship ticker-tape parade celebrating the New York Knicks’ NBA Finals victory in New York on June 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Timothy A. Clary \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Convene, an event and workspace business, embraced its sign change after a fan accidentally broke off the \u201cn\u201d on the building\u2019s sign while trying to get a better view.<\/p>\n

Even young Knicks fans don\u2019t play around. An elementary student named Madison, who was named after the Knicks’ home turf, Madison Square Garden, said she skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be at the parade.<\/p>\n

The parade got underway at Battery Park and ran north up Broadway through the \u201cCanyon of Heroes,\u201d which is marked with plaques in the ground commemorating past ticker-tape parades. Many of the Knicks’ celebrity fans<\/a> who turned up to support the team throughout the playoffs, like Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, also turned up to celebrate. Some even took part, riding on dozens of floats that made their way up to City Hall.<\/p>\n

\"Timothee<\/p>\n

Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet greets fans during the New York Knicks’ NBA championship parade on June 18.<\/p>\n

(AP Photo\/Ryan Murphy)<\/p>\n

Perhaps one unexpected \u201cceleb\u201d was a person dressed as Sesame Street\u2019s Elmo.. \u201cElmo\u201d \u2014 who was dragged by Knicks fans, and even the city\u2019s Department of Transportation<\/a>, for not picking a team<\/a> to root for in the NBA Finals \u2014 appeared to make amends to the Knicks, holding up a sign that said, \u201cElmo sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the parade route, the Knicks were welcomed at City Hall by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He sported a Knicks jersey under his suit jacket, while first lady Rama Duwaji was decked out in a dress made from upcycled Knicks T-shirts.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, from right, his wife Rama Duwaji, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and New York Attorney General Letitia James react during the New York Knicks’ NBA championship parade.<\/p>\n

(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n

Before he presented the team with keys to the city, Mamdani framed the championship series as belonging to all New Yorkers, calling out how fans packed into bars and held watch parties across the city. He connected the Knicks\u2019 perseverance and long history of heartbreak to New York\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo often when this city comes together, it is because we are forced to by a moment of tragedy or adversity,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani then handed out keys to New York City, the city\u2019s meaningful symbolic gesture, to the championship squad.<\/p>\n

\"Basketball<\/p>\n

Alicia Keys performs at New York City Hall on June 18.<\/p>\n

(REUTERS \/ REUTERS)<\/p>\n

To top off the celebration, multi-Grammy-winning singer and pianist Alicia Keys performed \u201cEmpire State of Mind.\u201d It was a quintessential New York moment as Keys sang alongside the winning Knicks team and the mayor at City Hall.<\/p>\n

Blue and orange confetti rained from the sky as the Knicks players celebrated with their families on stage.<\/p>\n

To keep the championship vibes running outside of MSG, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced with Spike Lee on Wednesday<\/a> that the 34th St.-Penn Station subway that was painted blue and orange for the Finals will remain that way through the next championship season.<\/p>\n

To quote Billy Joel, sung by Key on Thursday, the city is in a “New York state of mind.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Knicks’ championship ticker-tape parade on Thursday was one for the ages, as an estimated 1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,1104,15454,56,27941],"class_list":["post-271192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-new-york-police-department","tag-ny","tag-ticker-tape-parade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}