New York has endured hurricanes, public health crises and even attacks from abroad. On Thursday, however, the city will confront a very different kind of challenge: managing the massive crowds expected for a long-awaited Knicks championship parade.
Led by Jalen Brunson, this is the first Knicks team to be honored with a title parade. The franchise’s previous championship teams, in 1970 and 1973, never received one because of logistical and financial complications.
After Saturday’s Game 5 victory over the San Antonio Spurs secured the Knicks’ third NBA title, city officials began preparing for what is expected to be one of the biggest celebrations in recent memory. Millions of fans are anticipated to pack lower Manhattan’s storied Canyon of Heroes, the same parade route that has welcomed figures including Mickey Mantle, Theodore Roosevelt and Nelson Mandela.
With those huge crowds in mind — and following the disorder that broke out after the Knicks clinched the championship Saturday night — Mayor Zohran Mamdani has signaled that the city is taking no risks.
More than 10,000 NYPD officers will be deployed for the parade as part of an extensive security operation.
Beyond the officers stationed along the route, the department plans to use helicopter and drone units, heavy weapons teams, K-9 teams, highway patrol officers and large numbers of transit personnel. Police barriers were also put in place Tuesday as preparations intensified ahead of the celebration.
Mamdani is seen at Sunday’s Puerto Rican Day Parade wearing a Josh Hart replica jersey
A Knicks fan talks with police in the aftermath of the New York Knicks Game 5 win Saturday
Mounted Unit moves back Knicks fans as they celebrate their win against San Antonio Spurs
‘We want people to enjoy, but public safety comes first,’ NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday.
The parade will start at 10am from Battery Park before making its way to City Hall, where the team will receive the Keys to the City. Parking on the surrounding streets will be prohibited after 7pm local time on the eve of the parade, while a number of streets will be closed entirely to accommodate the crowds.
Attending the parade is going to be tricky as fans will only be able to access the route from 23 different checkpoints, all of which will include a screening process. Paradegoers are forbidden from bringing bags, glass or metal bottles, bats or batons, bikes or scooters, chairs, coolers, drones, backpacks, pets, strollers, weapons or even umbrellas.
And that could prove to be a small problem on Thursday morning as some light showers remain a possibility.
Paradegoers can also get updated information from the @NYCMayor and @NYCgov accounts on X.
Some fans are expected to try and camp out overnight along the route. As for those who want to get a good night’s sleep before the festivities, the city recommends arriving at least two hours before the 10am start time.
The NYPD had a busy night of arrests as fans were shot and stabbed amid the celebrations
Revelers stand on top of a ripped-apart school bus as it begins to burn near Times Square
Jalen Brunson celebrates with the MVP trophy with his father, Rick, and owner James Dolan
NYPD made 63 arrests across the city related to Knicks celebrations on Saturday night and early Sunday morning. One 17-year-old was shot in the foot during the madness.
With an ambulance unable to reach the stricken teenager due to the crowds ‘completely taking over’, he was transported to the hospital by the NYPD and is in a stable condition.
A firearm was recovered at the scene and three persons of interest are in custody.
Of the 63 fans arrested in the chaos, some of the charges were listed as: assault on a police officer, criminal possession of weapon (gun), criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration.
Ten NYPD officers were injured, including one of who was punched in the face and another who was struck with a glass bottle, according to authorities.
The police report states that crowds ‘became increasingly destructive’ after the game had finished, with ‘many incidents of incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior’.
NYPD Police officers patrol the large crowds along Broadway’s ‘Canyon Of Heroes’ in 1963. The parade was held in honor of astronaut Gordon Cooper, who piloted the Mercury 9 mission
A person stands in front of NYPD Mounted Units as they move back fans on Saturday
In addition to the shooting, there were four stabbings/slashings, and five school buses were lit on fire and destroyed with bats, after fans had jumped on top of them.
The buses, which had been parked near Times Square, were being used to transport soccer fans to and from MetLife Stadium for the World Cup.
Five NYPD cop cars, meanwhile, were badly damaged by fans with bats, with front and back windshields shattered and the windows smashed.
A specific number could not be placed on the ‘multiple’ other personal vehicles damaged in the chaos, while there were also fireworks lit in large crowds.
The report added that large physical fights broke out across the city, while many fans climbed up light poles, traffic lights, structures and scaffolding.
On Sunday morning, city workers began a mass cleanup operation to clear the city of the damage and destruction caused overnight… before Thursday’s title parade threatens to wreak havoc all over again.
