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New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, Gov. Kathy Hochul
and New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined the thousands who
lined the streets on Thursday.
The Liberty won the franchise's first championship, defeating
the Minnesota Lynx in overtime in a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA
Finals on Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
(To) see how many people were in the crowd, smiling,
celebrating the Liberty," Ionescu said, "it really puts into
perspective what it means to bring a championship to this city
and how it really takes everyone.
Veteran Liberty players from the early teams, including Teresa
Weatherspoon, Vickie Johnson, Kym Hampton and Crystal Robinson,
along with current coach Sandy Brondello. attended the parade
and ceremony afterward at City Hall. The Liberty even brought
out former mascot Maddie.
The parade route was full of fans of all ages, with many of the
kids wearing jerseys of their favorite players. Jones carried
her Finals MVP trophy atop her float, while Stewart and Ionescu
went into the crowd, giving high-fives and taking selfies with
fans.
The Liberty also had a celebration at Barclays Center on
Thursday night to cap off the festivities, highlighted by a
performance from the team's incredibly popular mascot, Ellie the
Elephant, with rapper Lil Mama.
There have been over 200 ticker-tape and confetti parades in New
York. The most recent to honor a women's sports team came in
2019 when the U.S. soccer team won the World Cup. Two years
later, there was a parade to honor essential workers and first
responders for their service during the coronavirus pandemic.
On behalf of 20 million incredibly proud New Yorkers, I say
welcome home to our champion women, said Hochul, who thanked
Liberty owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai for investing in the
team. Lets do it again next year.
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