New Yorkers lined the streets of decrease Manhattan Thursday morning to look at the New York Knicks parade down Broadway to rejoice the group’s first NBA championship since 1973.
Knicks level guard Jose Alvarado joined “Good Morning America” forward of the parade and mentioned attending to rejoice with followers in his hometown is further significant to him.
“Knicks, we gained, and that is wonderful. However I am from right here, and it is like, it is simply residence, totally different,” Alvarado said. “I have been a Knicks fan since I used to be born, proper? My mother and father [have] been Knicks followers. Simply seeing this progress, that the whole lot occurred, cannot actually be put in phrases. It is simply particular to me. It is actual particular.”
A view of the New York Knicks Parade is proven from the Woolworth Constructing, on June 18, 2026, in New York.
Mike Segar/Reuters
The ticker-tape parade kicked off close to a downtown park at 10 a.m. ET and labored its method north up Broadway, coming to an finish at Metropolis Corridor.
All the viewing pens have been full earlier than 8 a.m. ET, based on the New York Police Division.
“Nobody else can be allowed within the viewing space. As a reminder, for those who go away the viewing pens, you’ll not be allowed reentry,” the NYPD mentioned in an announcement.
Forward of the parade, Mayor Zohran Mamdani additionally joined “GMA” and known as the occasion “a parade of immense pleasure throughout our metropolis, and admittedly, even throughout the area.”
Members of the New York Knicks joined by New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani journey atop an open-top bus throughout a championship ticker-tape parade celebrating the group’s NBA Finals victory in New York, on June 18, 2026.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP through Getty Pictures
“It might very properly find yourself being the most important parade in New York Metropolis historical past,” the mayor mentioned.
Mamdani is ready to carry a ceremony on the finish of the parade, awarding the group — which includes star players Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Cities, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby — keys to the town, an instance of which he confirmed on “GMA.”
Zohran Mamdani, New York Metropolis Mayor and OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks are seen on a float throughout the New York Knicks Championship ticker tape parade and victory rally celebrating successful the 2026 NBA Finals on June 18, 2026, in New York.
Angelina Katsanis/Getty Pictures
“That is the important thing to the town we can be presenting to every of the gamers and it’s the first key that our administration is giving out, since it has been solely six months,” Mamdani mentioned. “It’s designed by Azra Khafan. It’s manufactured by him, designed by Aneesh Bhoothaphy, and the typography of the hot button is truly designed by Tobias Frere-Jones, who designed the typography of the 9/11 museum.”
Alicia Keys will even take the stage at Metropolis Corridor for a dwell efficiency of “Empire State of Thoughts” to rejoice the group.
“To see nice New York groups have that moment and for it to lastly be our time, you realize, it is a type of stuff you all the time dream of as a child, particularly rising up within the space,” mentioned Karl-Anthony Cities, a New Jersey native, on “GMA” this week.
The ticker-tape parade is a primary for the Knicks, who didn’t rejoice with the famed custom throughout their final wins in 1970 or 1973, according to the AP, who famous the successful group celebrated at different New York Metropolis places as an alternative.
The final ticker-tape parade to return for the town belonged to the New York Liberty in 2024 following their WNBA championship win, based on Downtown Alliance, which compiles research on the parades.
The Downtown Alliance notes the custom of the ticker-tape parade started in 1886 when Wall Road employees threw ticker-tape out the window to rejoice the Statue of Liberty unveiling.
The victory occasions can be closely secured, drawing the most important variety of law enforcement officials ever assigned to a deliberate occasion, the NYPD mentioned Wednesday.
Greater than 10,000 members of the NYPD are safeguarding the route.
The celebration comes after an awe-inspiring playoff run which noticed the Knicks safe the group’s first NBA title in additional than 50 years with a 4-1 sequence win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Jalen Brunson celebrates with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy throughout the New York Knicks Parade on June 18, 2026, in New York.
Gary Hershorn/ABC Information
The Knicks’ beginning 5 joined “GMA” Monday and mentioned what the parade and what the championship means to the town.
“You by no means know for those who’re even going to have the ability to attend the parade and get shut sufficient to see the greats, however to be those truly doing the trail, and following behind some wonderful legends earlier than us in New York historical past. I believe it’ll be one thing actually, actually particular,” Cities mentioned.
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges added with a smile, “I simply wish to deliver my canine on the float.”
Cities additionally touched on how a lot this championship means to a metropolis and fanbase that has waited for achievement for thus lengthy, saying it “was therapeutic taking place in actual life, in actual time.”
“Knicks followers have been asking for this second for 27 years, since 1999,” he mentioned, referencing the group’s final Finals look. “That is actually a once-in-a-lifetime occasion you are watching in New York sports activities historical past.”
In an interview that aired Tuesday, Knicks proprietor James Dolan additionally informed WFAN that the group accepted an invite to go to the White Home to rejoice their championship title.
“We simply did obtain an invite from the White Home, which we accepted. We nonetheless have to determine the main points,” Dolan mentioned. “I invited the president to return down for the sport, proper? He’s a pal. I’ve recognized him for 30 years and I am very proud to deliver the group to the White Home.”
