The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time in 53 years — and the city is now ready to celebrate in style.
It took a Game 5 thriller to get there. Behind 45 points from Finals MVP Jalen Brunson , the Knicks erased a double-digit deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 on Saturday night, ending a championship drought that stretched all the way back to 1973.
Now the party moves from Madison Square Garden to the streets of Manhattan. A Knicks parade is planned for this week, and fans hoping to be part of it will want to know exactly where to go and when to show up.
Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images
The parade is set for Thursday, June 18th, with the celebration starting at 10 a.m. ET.
It begins near Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and travels north up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes — the famous stretch that has honored championship teams, astronauts and world leaders for a century — before wrapping up at City Hall.
The route covers roughly a mile, and it is free and open to the public, so organizers are bracing for hundreds of thousands of fans to line the sidewalks.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the plans and urged supporters to claim their spots well in advance.
Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Speaking on a broadcast shared to X , Mamdani said: "I know it does not feel real, but it is. After 53 long years, the wait is over. The Knicks are NBA champions, but the celebrations are not over just yet."
He added: "On Thursday at 10 a.m., we're hosting a ticker-tape parade along Broadway, beginning in Battery Park and ending at City Hall. It will be free and open to the public. So plan to arrive early to get a good spot. You will not want to miss it."
Once the procession reaches City Hall, Mamdani will host a championship ceremony where players, coaches and executives are handed Keys to the City.
Municipal buildings across New York will also glow blue and orange on Thursday night to mark the victory.
There is an extra layer of history to it all, too. This will be the first ticker-tape parade in Knicks history — the title-winning teams of 1970 and 1973 never got one, as the city had paused such celebrations at the time.
