New York Prepares Massive Championship Parade for Knicks After 53 Years

New York is getting ready for a major championship celebration after the New York Knicks won the title for the first time in 53 years. The parade is set for Thursday, with players expected to ride an open bus through Manhattan as more than one million people are projected to line the streets.

The route will begin at Bowling Green, continue through Manhattan, and end at New York City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to host the team at a ceremonial reception. Among the guests expected to take part is Alicia Keys, who is scheduled to perform "Empire State of Mind," the song she recorded with Jay-Z and which has become an unofficial anthem of the celebrations.

Walt Frazier, who won the Knicks' previous championship in 1973 and has followed the team for years, is also expected to attend, along with Knicks cheerleaders and local bands. The New York Police Department is deploying 10,000 officers to secure the event, the largest such organized police deployment in the city, and the players are also expected to be showered with more than a ton of recycled confetti.

The Knicks have continued celebrating in recent days, including by attending the World Cup match between France and Senegal at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, appearing on Jimmy Fallon's show, and having Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson open a New York Yankees game on Wednesday.