The viewing areas for the New York Knicks’ championship parade were quickly filled early Thursday, leaving a sea of fans chanting “Let us in!” hours before the team is set to take its victory lap through the Big Apple.
“All viewing pens are full,” the NYPD announced just before 7:30 a.m. – long before the parade’s 10 a.m. start. “No one else will be allowed in the viewing area.”
Viewing pens opened at 6 a.m., with a sea of orange and blue lining up hours before in downtown Manhattan to grab a spot.
Throngs of crowds are seen at the Knicks ticker-tape parade on Thursday, June 18, 2026.
REUTERSWhile some die-hard Knicks fans started claiming spots along the parade route Wednesday night, revelers blasted city officials for not doing more to accommodate the massive crowds of supporters who came out for the team’s first ticket-taper parade.
“They needed to do more,” a 46-year-old Staten Island resident told The Post, adding that she arrived at 7:15 a.m. to get a spot but was shut out instead.
“They knew the crowds were going to be crazy. Obviously he didn’t understand the demand,” she said, referring to Mayor Zohran Mamdani telling spectators to arrive two hours before access points opened.
“I think considering at least a million people they were expecting there should have been more access points. It’s disappointing to the lifelong Knicks fans. It’s disappointing to everyone.
“If you had to cut it off, it should have been longer. It should have ended at the Garden instead of City Hall.”
The parade is expected to begin at Battery Park at 10 a.m. and conclude at City Hall around noon, with the team getting a key to the city.
NYPD cops attempt to barrier the area of the parade. Matthew McDermott for NY PostThe shutout left hordes of Knicks faithful climbing scaffolding, subway entrances, street signs and building sides to secure a glimpse of the team and celebrate their first NBA championship since 1973.
Fans were chanting “Let us in,” at one access point.
“I don’t feel it’s organized well at all,” said Mel Bell, 44, of the Bronx, who arrived at 6 a.m.
“I think the NYPD is understaffed. It’s very crowded. If we don’t get in, we are going home right away.”
The NYPD revealed more than 10,000 officers will work the celebration, which the department said is the largest deployment ever for a single event in the city.
Despite the heavy police presence fans on Church Street scaled trucks and street poles, while others tried to push over and hop the barriers for a spot in line.
Frustrated fans were also getting varied answers on where to go from different police officers about entrances in the mayhem.
Mamdani predicted this week the celebration could be the biggest parade in the city’s history.
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