The Police Department will deploy more than 10,000 of its ranks to a ticker-tape parade and ceremony for the Knicks on Thursday morning, the largest assignment of officers to a planned event in the city’s history, the department said.
The parade will be policed by officers from across the department, including heavy-weapons teams, explosive-detection dogs and members of the transit, highway and aviation units, according to a police spokeswoman. The deployment will far exceed that of recent major events, including New Year’s Eve at Times Square, one of the largest commitments of the year for the department.
The event on Thursday morning is expected to draw millions of people to the parade route along the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan and then a select number to City Hall for a ticketed celebration. Members of the public are allowed to gather along the route, but they will be screened and must enter through designated access points, the police said.
Attendance at the parade will be first-come, first-served, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a meeting on Wednesday with local, state, and federal law enforcement officials. People will be allowed into viewing areas along the route beginning at 6 a.m., and once the areas fill, they will either be redirected to other locations or turned away, she said.
“We want people to enjoy this moment,” Ms. Tisch said at the meeting. “We want this to be a safe and memorable celebration for Knicks fans and for New York City, but public safety comes first and we are planning accordingly.”
The stringent security measures come after the police have spent weeks trying to maintain order as New Yorkers from all five boroughs took to the streets to watch the Knicks play in their first finals in 27 years.
The watch parties, including those hosted by the Knicks outside Madison Square Garden, were often rowdy and occasionally violent, posing a challenge for the department.
On Saturday night, after the Knicks clinched the championship win, a 17-year-old teenager was shot in the foot, four people were slashed or stabbed and several revelers set school buses on fire in Midtown Manhattan.
On Thursday, all parade attendees will be barred from bringing bags, strollers, umbrellas, glass or metal water bottles and several other personal items, the police said. The celebration to follow at City Hall will be open only to ticket holders and subject to similar security measures.
The Police Department will close several streets and subway stations in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday night and Thursday morning ahead of the festivities.
Beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, parking south of Canal Street will be prohibited. At 7 a.m. on Thursday, the streets below Canal from the Hudson River to the East River will be closed to vehicles. Cars headed to Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge will be directed north on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.
The Wall Street station for the 4 and 5 trains and the City Hall station for the R and W trains will be closed starting at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday and will remain shut until the celebration is over. The following stations will remain open: Bowling Green (4, 5); Fulton (4,5, J, Z, 2,3); Brooklyn Bridge (4,5,6); Chambers St (J, Z) and Park Place (2,3).
More information about the parade route and street closures can be found on the city’s web page for the celebration.
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