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Mere minutes after the Knicks took the fifth game of the NBA championship and officially claimed the Larry O’Brien Trophy, Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent out two messages on X. The first read, “HISTORY.” a response to the New York basketball team’s winning of the first title since 1973. The second was “Parade. Thursday. Manhattan”—an announcement thousands of fans were waiting for. In New York, mayors alone have the ability to call a ticker-tape parade, and they don’t happen very often (the last one was in November 2025). Below, read more about the time-honored tradition, and what today’s parade, which will begin at 10 a.m., might look like.
What is “ticker-tape”?
The number one question facing all New Yorkers on Thursday morning: What exactly is ticker-tape? It all comes back to the time and place: Wall Street and the Gilded Age. Back then, shifting stock prices, which came fast and furious all day (as they do now, albeit digitally), were reported automatically on little pieces of paper, from where the modern stock ticker, the name of a stock, originates. The resulting paper filled offices all across Wall Street, but the moment after it printed, it became irrelevant. It was the ideal basis for the confetti that rained down during the first, impromptu Wall Street parade for the Statue of Liberty in 1886. Note, there is no tape involved, the name comes from the sound of the telegraph machines as they spat out the stock prices.
Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers//Getty Images
A ticker-tape telegraph in 1983.
What is the Canyon of Heroes?
The parades, which originated in New York but have expanded to cities large and small around the country (see a very memorable scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is set in Chicago), are traditionally held in the “Canyon of Heroes.” The “canyon” is just under a mile, stretching from the Battery, at the Southern most tip of the city to City Hall. Each parade is commemorated with a stone plaque. “Canyon” comes from the line of mountainous skyscrapers that make-up the silhouette of downtown.
Celebrity Sightings In New York City - October 24, 2024
TheStewartofNY//Getty Images
The New York Liberty women’s basketball team celebrates in the Canyon of Heroes during their ticker-tape parade in October 2024.
When did ticker-tape parades begin in New York City?
Thursday’s parade for the Knicks is the first for the team, but the tradition is more than a century old. In 1886, the city honored the dedication of the Statue of Liberty with a an impromptu parade downtown, during which revelers threw ticker tape, in lieu of streamers, from the office buildings above. Subsequent parades were held in honor of the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration (1889), Theodore Roosevelt’s African expedition (1910), Olympic runner Jesse Owens’ gold medal (1936), the Apollo 11 astronauts’ safe return (1969), along with visits from royals, popes, and foreign dignitaries, including Queen Elizabeth II (1957), and Nelson Mandela (1990). (You might even see a ticker-tape parade in the upcoming season of The Gilded Age if the set photos are any indication.)
For the last few decades, during which the parades have become less frequent, they have primarily honored New York sports teams, like the Yankees, the Giants, and most recently the New York Liberty basketball team (2024) and Gotham FC soccer team (2025). Today’s parade is only the fourth of the 2020s, the first of which honored healthcare professionals and essential workers in 2021.
See ticker-tape parades throughout history:
Jesse Owens In Ticker Tape Parade
1936
Jesse Owens, Olympic Champion
Transcendental Graphics//Getty Images
Ticker Tape Parade for Amelia Earhart
1932
Amelia Earhart, following her transatlantic flight
Historical//Getty Images
Elisabeth II. von GB/ bei einer Fahrt durch New York
1957
Queen Elizabeth II
ullstein bild Dtl.//Getty Images
Apollo 11 astronauts Waving to Crowds
1969
The Apollo 11 Astronauts
Bettmann//Getty Images
Nelson Mandela ticker tape parade
1990
Nelson Mandela, following his release from prison
New York Daily News//Getty Images
NBC News -- NY Giants Ticker Tape Parade
2008
The New York Giants, including Michael Strahan and Payton Manning, win the Super Bowl
NBC NewsWire//Getty Images
"Hometown Heroes" Ticker Tape Parade Held In New York City
2021
Healthcare and essential workers are thanked following the Covid-19 Pandemic
Noam Galai//Getty Images
New York Liberty Ticker Tape Victory Parade & Rally
2024
The New York Liberty win the 2024 WNBA Championship
Elsa//Getty Images
NJ/NY Gotham FC NWSL 2025 Champions Parade
2025
The Gotham FC women’s soccer team wins the National Women’s Soccer League championship
Ira L. Black//Getty Images
At 10 am, on Thursday, June 18, Knicks fans will line up all along the Canyon to celebrate the players who finally brought home the Championship. After waiting 53 years, what’s a few hours on line?
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Dorothy Scarborough (she/her) is the assistant to the Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Elle Decor.