New York Knicks parade brings generations of fans into the streets

In an AP interview, fan Angel Oliva, a high school student, says he arrived at 3am and was still unable to get a good spot because of all the chaos and checkpoints, but is just grateful to be near City Hall where the ceremony takes place.

Madison, beaming, held a handwritten sign announcing she’d skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be in attendance.

“It’s been 53 years — come on. That was a no-brainer,” Emerson said.

Stars and Knicks legends

Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the ’70s champion teams — was riding along in style, wearing his NBA title rings. A person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details before they were publicly announced, said Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen was set to emcee the City Hall ceremony.

Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the New York-loving 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind,” has been tapped to perform.

“How could I not?” Keys said Wednesday in a social media video that featured her on the phone with Knicks forward OG Anunoby.

A parade decades in the making

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’t host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons, and he instead honored the Knicks at a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jam-packed 1973 ceremony outside City Hall.

This time, the city is going all out. A police officer could be seen holding a sign reading, “This is really happening.”

And a massive security operation

Police plan to deploy 10,000 officers to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks’ run to victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

At one point 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 to keep fans penned in.

Some 650 sanitation workers have been assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide.

Why does New York throw ticker-tape parades?

Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines. New York brokerage firm workers took to tossing the paper out their office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling aerial spectacle to the festivities.

Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades to honor visiting foreign leaders, mark historic anniversaries and hail feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more.

The Knicks’ parade will be the 210th, and it comes after a ticker-tape bash for the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2024.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Julie Walker and Stephen Whyno in New York and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Southampton, New York, contributed.