New York Liberty gets their moment along Canyon of Heroes

The New York Liberty were the pride of New York on Thursday, marching up the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan in celebration of their WNBA Championship victory – New York City’s first basketball championship in more than half a century.

Starting off at 10 a.m., the players rode on floats under a sea of paper, traveling up Broadway from Battery Park to City Hall, joining a long-time New York City tradition reserved for its greatest champions and celebrated dignitaries. 

Mayor Eric Adams made an early appearance in a seafoam green Liberty T-shirt, which he wore over a tailored shirt with cufflinks. “They made it rain buckets. We made it rain ticker tape. Only for the champions, @nyliberty,” he later tweeted on X.

Following the mayor was U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer alongside state Attorney General Letitia James. James had to contend with wave after wave of shredded paper shooting out of a nearby cannon. Schumer, meanwhile, appeared determined to make sure parade-goers knew who he was by holding up a sign with his name across the top. It also featured an image of the Statue of Liberty’s torch and the words “Light it up Liberty!” 

Spectators watching from behind barricades were positioned along both sides of Broadway for the hour-long procession, which also included marchers from several city agencies, including the New York police, fire and sanitation departments, among others. 

For Brandon Zwagerman, it was a historic moment worth taking the morning off from his job at the SoHo Broadway Initiative. “It's very important. I was at the final game, and I've been following the team all season. So I had to be here,” he said, wearing a Statue of Liberty foam crown purchased on the street for $10.

Zwagerman also mentioned that he was a City & State reader and said that he was living proof that our readers are Liberty fans. “We all love our city and our state and our local teams,” he gushed. 

Elise Turin, a friend who joined Zwagerman, noted how significant the Liberty’s victory was, especially for women. 

“I mean, we've been working for this for what, 28 years? It's like we're finally having our moment. So many women – I'm going to get emotional – laid the groundwork, in the late ’90s at (Madison Square Garden) for this team,” she said. “So it's so incredible to see us finally win a championship.”

For another friend, Katie Temrowski, who had just recently been laid off from her job at the New York Mets front office, the Liberty’s championship victory couldn’t have come at a better time. 

“I was laid off midway through the playoffs, so that was fun,” she told City & State. “So like, hell yeah, let's go Liberty! You know, the Mets couldn't deliver it, but the Liberty could.”