NEW YORK (WABC) — New York City officials are ramping up preparations for Thursday’s historic ticker-tape parade celebrating the Knicks NBA Championship win.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said city agencies have already been working behind the scenes to prepare for what is expected to be one of the largest celebrations in recent city history.
He said they chose the day “in consultation with the Knicks organization” to ensure “players and their families will be here, I know there are some who may have wanted a quicker turnaround, we had want to make sure that everyone could bring everyone who meant something to them.”
Mamdani is encouraging fans to come as early as they possibly can.
The mayor also showed off temporary signs that will go up for Thursday’s ticker-tape parade for the Knicks, and said the event “may well be the largest parade in New York City history.”
“Part of the reason we’re having this parade on Thursday is to ensure the players have enough time to bring their families, because they’ve been working their entire life for this,” Mamdani said. “There will be performances, there will be New Yorkers, there will be the team, and there will be history.”
The ticker-tape parade is scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. The celebration will begin near Battery Park and travel north along Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes before ending at City Hall.
Roughly 2,500 pounds of shredded, crinkled paper will be delivered downtown. The mountain will then be distributed to buildings along the parade route.
“A lot of it is going to be floating through the air on Thursday to celebrate a joyous day for the city,” said Andrew Breslau of the Alliance for Downtown NY.
Twenty-two buildings along the parade route will be the recipient of all the confetti. One critical requirement for being selected is that their windows must open. A lot of the new buildings do not.
“I work here at 100 Broadway. I literally have a ringside street,” said Knicks fan Garry Murray.
Following the parade, Mamdani will host a championship celebration and Key to the City ceremony on City Hall Plaza.
The event is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans, making security and crowd management a major focus for city officials in the days leading up to the celebration.
“I know that there will be some that will be unable to be there, including students taking their Regents,” Mamdani said.
He said he can’t cancel exams or otherwise give student excuses to skip them.
“My encouragement would be you should be taking the Regents, unlike my executive order for bedtime, this is something I cannot repeal,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani said he hopes there is no violence at the parade.
“I am hopeful of both the planning and the preparation we have put in place for Thursday as well, the nature of a parade at 10 a.m. in the morning is slightly different then the nature of impromptu celebration at midnight on a Saturday,” Mamdani said.
Fans have been celebrating since Saturday night’s championship-clinching victory, with thousands gathering at watch parties and filling city streets after the Knicks captured their first title since 1973.
The city has also announced plans to illuminate City Hall and several municipal buildings in blue and orange ahead of the celebration.
Thursday’s event will mark the first ticker-tape parade in Knicks franchise history.
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