New York Liberty Parade of Champions: Everything to know

NEW YORK (WABC) — New York City is gearing up for its first ticker tape parade to celebrate a local sports team in 12 years.

Seafoam green will fill the Canyon of Heroes as the city comes together to celebrate the New York Liberty.

Watch complete coverage of the celebration on Eyewitness News Mornings @10 and everywhere you stream ABC7NY.

Parade time and route

The parade will kick off at Battery Park around 10 a.m. Thursday morning before it heads north up Broadway to City Hall.

After the parade there will be a celebration at City Hall before another celebration Thursday night at the Barclays Center.

Commuter alert

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

Street closures

• Broadway between Reade Street and Battery Place will be 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 detoured during the parade above Worth Street and Broadway

• The subway stations surrounding City Hall will have exits closed. These include the R,W trains on the east side of Broadway and the 4,5,6 trains at Park Row Plaza

• The Downtown Connection bus service will also be suspended for the entire day on Thursday, October 24. Normal service will resume on Friday, October 25

Ticker tape parade history

Thursday’s ticker tape parade is the first to honor a local sports team since 2012 when the Giants beat Tom Brady’s Patriots for the second time in Super Bowl 46.

There have been more than 200 parades in New York City history that have showered a range of honorees — including athletes, soldiers, politicians, astronauts and even a virtuoso pianist.

But why ticker tape? A technological artifact even in the era of fax machines and floppy discs, ticker tape was the paper on which a “ticker” machine recorded telegraphed stock quotes.

With the rise of television and computers, the tape became obsolete in the 1960s, but in the late 1800s, these one-inch-wide ribbons of paper were abundant in the financial heart of New York City, according to the Downtown Alliance, an organization that now supports the city’s ticker-tape parades.

Office workers realized that the tape made a dramatic swirling motion when thrown out the windows of tall buildings, so the first ticker-tape parade seemed to start as a spontaneous gesture to celebrate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

RELATED | Why ticker tape? History of NYC’s iconic parades as city prepares to celebrate the Liberty

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