NY Liberty Parade of Champions 2024 Live: NYC honors WNBA champions with ticker celebration at Canyon of Heroes

NEW YORK (WABC) – Thousands turned out at the Canyon of Heroes in downtown Manhattan on Thursday to shower the WNBA champion New York Liberty with ticker tape.

Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and their New York teammates were celebrated with a parade that was broadcast live on Channel 7 and streamed on ABC 7 New York.

The Liberty won the franchise's first championship by defeating the Minnesota Lynx in overtime in a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Mayor Eric Adams joined the thousands who lined the streets on Thursday.

Eyewitness News sports anchor Sam Ryan was at the parade start site where she met Sabrina Ionescu.

Breanna Stewart also spoke with Ryan about the “overwhelming support” for her team at the Parade of Champions.

Jonquel Jones rode a special car for the MVP.

Fans lined the streets and couldn't help but share their excitement.

The parade was particularly meaningful for the younger generation of girls who took part in the parade. Among them are Eyewitness news anchor Mike Marza and the daughter of ABC News' Rhiannon Ally.

Time and route of the parade

The parade began around 10 a.m. Thursday morning in Battery Park before heading north across Broadway to City Hall.

Following the parade, there will be a celebration at City Hall before another celebration at Barclays Center on Thursday evening.

Commuter alert

The Downtown Alliance says those commuting to Lower Manhattan on Thursday will likely experience street and subway closures as well as bus detours.

Road closures

• Broadway between Reade Street and Battery Place is closed to southbound vehicle traffic

• State Street between Battery Place and Bridge Street

• Battery Place between West Thames Street and Broadway

• 3rd place between Battery Place and Little West Street

• 2nd place between Battery Place and Little West Street

• Little West Street between Morris Street and Battery Place

• West Street between Morris Street and Battery Place

• Morris Street between West Street and Washington Street

Subway and bus changes

• Buses will be rerouted along Worth Street and Broadway during the parade

• The exits of the subway stations around the town hall are closed. These include the R,W trains on the east side of Broadway and the 4,5,6 trains at Park Row Plaza

• Downtown Connection bus service will also be suspended all day on Thursday, October 24th. Regular operations will resume on Friday, October 25th

History of the Ticker Tape Parade

Thursday's ticker parade is the first honoring a local sports team since 2012, when the Giants beat Tom Brady's Patriots for the second time in Super Bowl 46.

There were over 200 ticker parades in New York. The last honor for a women's sports team came in 2019, when the U.S. soccer team won the World Cup. Two years later, there was a parade honoring essential workers and first responders for their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.

Not all New York sports champions were given the honor of the ticker parade. New York City FC won its first Major League Soccer championship in 2021, but only received a celebration at City Hall. Last year, NY/NJ Gotham FC won the NWSL Women's Professional Soccer League championship, but also didn't get a ticker parade.

But why ticker tape? Even in the age of fax machines and floppy disks, ticker tape was a technological artifact and the paper on which a “ticker” device recorded telegraphed stock prices.

ALSO VIEW | Take a look behind the scenes and see how the ticker parade floats were created

With the advent of television and computers, the tape became obsolete in the 1960s, but by the late 19th century, these two-inch-wide paper tapes were in abundance in New York City's financial center, according to the Downtown Alliance organization that is now the ticker -Tape parades supported by the city.

Office workers recognized that the ribbon made a dramatic swirling motion when thrown from the windows of tall buildings, and so the first treadmill parade appeared to be a spontaneous gesture to celebrate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

RELATED | Why ticker tape? History of NYC's legendary parades as the city prepares for its celebration of freedom

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