Thursday’s Headlines: Nothing But Knicks Edition

We were cheering “Tow New York, tow New York, tow!” as Lower Manhattan was supposed to go car-free for the Knicks ticker-tape parade late on Wednesday night.

Lower Manhattan was poised to be a chaotic, crowded — and thrilling — scene on Thursday as the Knicks prepared to celebrate their first NBA championship in 53 years with an official city ticker-tape parade from Bowling Green to City Hall, where they’ll receive keys to the city from Mayor Mamdani.

Space should be tight in the Financial District. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the city expected “millions” of people to come into Manhattan for the parade, and that NYPD would turn people away once it hit capacity along the route. Doors to get through NYPD’s parade security perimeter were set to open at 6 a.m.

As we reported on Wednesday, NYPD said it would begin towing any car parked south of Canal Street beginning at 7 p.m. before the parade. One traffic enforcement agent told us during the afternoon that the towing would actually start at 10 p.m. Cops on the scene after the clock struck seven told us that they weren’t actually towing every car parked south of Canal Street — just cars parked in and nearby the parade route.

Our old man didn’t find much of any towing after 10 p.m.:

Streetsblog reporters Dave Colon and Sophia Lebowitz both got credentials to cover the parade. The rest of us weren’t so lucky, so we’ll enjoy the day — and, hopefully, a car-free downtown — with the masses.

Go Knicks!

In other Knick knews:

• “Die-hards” were already camped out for the parade on Thursday. (The City Reporter)
• The Knicks will visit the White House, according to Jim Dolan. (Gothamist)
• DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn at City & State’s “Rebuilding New York” summit: “My Knicks are humble/Spurs offense crumbled/Our streets came alive/Knicks in five.”
• The Children’s Museum of Manhattan held a block party with “New York’s littlest” to celebrate the Knicks championship. (Gothamist)

In other knon-Knick knews:

• An 18-year-old tourist died after being thrown out of a Central Park horse-drawn carriage when the vehicle’s horse “suddenly bolted.” (Daily News, West Side Rag)
• The Mamdani administration is bringing 63 blocks of offset bus lanes and a wider bike lane design to Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. (amNY)
• The Wall Street Journal hopped on the World Cup transportation video trend and tested every possible way to get to MetLife Stadium, including by bike. (WSJ via Instagram)
• Astoria’s latest traffic violence victim died walking at 38th Street and 34th Avenue, just around the corner from her home and a block from where a driver killed cyclist Amanda Servidio in 2024. (QNS, John Surico via X)

• There’s a new street mural at Father Studzinski Square, where Mayor Mamdani back in January announced his now underway plans to bolster safety improvements on McGuinness Boulevard. (Brooklyn Eagle)
• ICE is parking all over Lower Manhattan. (Hell Gate)
• The Transit Museum is honoring the subway’s vanishing orange seats. (The City Reporter)
• And, finally, the Knicks deserve all the credit they get today, but we would be remiss if we didn’t also point out that Streetsblog is also the home of champions. Last night at the National Arts Club, the Silurians Press Club handed out two big awards to Streetsblog: A heavy medallion (the top prize) to Jesse Coburn for his epic “Moped King” investigation from last year, and a merit award (second place!) to Sophia Lebowitz for her investigation into Instacart’s business shenanigans. Congrats to both (and to Editor Gersh Kuntzman who got to drink for free before taking the award photo below):