If you happened to be in downtown Manhattan around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, you might have thought the first snow of the season had fallen early. But the white Singamabob that fell from the sky was not debris, but confetti, commemorating a historic event: the New York Liberty’s first WNBA championship.
On October 20th, the Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in a historic victory, capping off a great season for U.S. women’s basketball. To celebrate, the city held a traditional ticker tape parade. This is the first time a local women’s sports team has received such an honor. bergen records. The parade, hosted by Mayor Eric Adams, also reportedly included other celebrities, including New York State Sen. Chuck Schumer and Governor Kathy Hochul. PBSthe star athlete himself, and, of course, countless fans.
Thousands of people (one of the participants was 40-year-old Omar Gonzalez, who estimates the number was somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000) gathered in downtown Manhattan to celebrate as a community and honor their favorite players. I caught a glimpse of one or two people. By 9:15 a.m., the Canyon of Heroes route stretching from Bowling Green to City Hall had turned into a green sea of black and seafoam. There were Liberty hats, Liberty jerseys, Liberty T-shirts, Liberty sweatshirts, Liberty crewnecks, Statue of Liberty headpieces, and even a Liberty-themed stuffed animal. “I’ve been walking down this street a long time and it was really crowded,” Rachel Burke, wearing a long black leather coat over a WNBA T-shirt, told SELF. “And it’s so moving to see how many people are participating and how many different types of people it’s reaching.”
“It really brings New York together and it’s a really beautiful thing,” she added.
Streets were cordoned off, police were patrolling and sanitation workers stood by, ready to begin the painstaking clean-up process once the event was over. Chants of “NY LIBERTY” rang out. “Let’s go, Liberty.” “We have everything we need, we have everything we got.” The children (and some adults, too) scrambled to the metal framework of the sidewalk scaffolding for a better vantage point. I climbed the. “My blood pressure is rising,” Barry, 60, wearing a Liberty jersey over a plaid button-down, said to Self, as he stood on one railing and grabbed onto the other for support. Ta. Several others said they felt the tense atmosphere brought some much-needed vitality to the Big Apple. “The city needed this, and I’m glad it was for women.” [team] We did that,” Lani Joseph, 28, who started watching Liberty when fan favorite Sabrina Ionescu signed on, tells SELF.
