Knicks parade expected to draw record crowds, NYPD on alert

The New York Police Department has completed a security assessment for the New York Knicks victory parade and celebration Thursday, and one concern for law enforcement is a possible lone actor viewing the parade as a “high-priority target” given the “potentially historic” crowds expected to attend the event, according to the assessment shared with various law enforcement organizations and reviewed by NBC News.

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Officials say there are no new or credible threats ahead of the ticker-tape parade in lower Manhattan. Historically, these types of assessments are used by the nation’s largest police department to determine how many officers to deploy to an event; the NYPD is expected to send more than 10,000 members to the parade as it winds through the Wall Street corridor. They don’t indicate a threat is imminent.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he expects big crowds.

“It may well be the largest parade in New York City history,” Mamdani said.

The Knicks clinched the best-of-seven series 4-1 against the San Antonio Spurs to lift the trophy for the first time since 1973, sealing the deal in Game 5 two days after pulling off the largest comeback in NBA Finals history.

They sealed the title at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, but over 1,500 miles away, in New York, celebrations erupted after the final buzzer.

The NYPD assessment notes that the majority of spectators will be “celebratory and law-abiding,” but “non-ideologically motivated criminal actors may use the upcoming celebration as an opportunity to perpetrate exploitative acts of property destruction, vandalism, and more generalized disorderly conduct.”

In the wild celebrations following the winning game, 63 people were arrested, and 10 officers were injured.

Given the enormous media presence and crowds expected Thursday, the NYPD is looking out for signs of knife or blunt object attacks, vehicle rammings, or drones, according to the NYPD assessment.

The celebration is likely viewed as as a “high-priority target for malign actors due to its outsized media coverage and the potentially historic number of people expected to be in attendance at the parade in Lower Manhattan and celebratory events citywide,” according to the assessment.