The Liberty Celebrate With a Ticker-Tape Parade

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Brian Lehrer: The New York Liberty. On Sunday, the Liberty won the series three games to two against the Minnesota Lynx. It was 67 to 62 in Sunday's final nail biter of a game. This morning, New York City is celebrating the Liberty the way New York does, with a ticker tape parade up the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan. It's the Liberty's first-ever championship in their 30 years of existence. The second ticker tape parade in a row for a sports team that's for a women's sports team, by the way, though, only the third time ever for a women's team. We'll give you that history.

Wait, some of you might be asking, what is a ticker tape parade anyway? We'll answer that too. Joining us live from the parade route is WNYC's breaking news reporter, Brittany Kriegstein. You can hear the sound of the Canyon of Heroes behind her. Joining us with some New York City ticker tape parade history is Greg Young, creator and co-host of The Bowery Boys podcast, which has been riffing on stories from the history of New York since practically the beginning of podcast history in 2007. Welcome to WNYC, Greg.

Greg Young: Wow. Thank you. Thank you for the intro, Brian. Great to be here for a celebration, to talk celebrations.

Brian Lehrer: Absolutely. Brittany, hi. Can you hear me?

Brittany Kriegstein: Yes, I can. Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: I can hear you. Listeners, we can take some calls from Liberty fans who couldn't go to the parade in person. What was your favorite moment of the season? Who's your favorite player and why? 212-433-WNYC. Or on ticker tape parades, does anyone have a memorable moment from any other New York City ticker tape parade? There have been more than 200 of them. We'll name a few as we go. Which one did you attend and what was the highlight? 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692, call or text. Brittany, where are you right now, and what's happening there?

Brittany Kriegstein: I am literally in the middle of Broadway, walking north, trying to stay a little bit ahead of the parade, which is advancing up behind me. Just, I know it's going to be a wall of noise, but it is. It does feel like a canyon here. There are just so many people [inaudible 00:02:26] street. It is an ocean of seafoam green, lots of Liberty swag, so many people from all stripes, all walks of life. It's just a really exciting atmosphere here.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, say more about who's there. How would you describe the crowd that has shown up for this lining the streets?

Brittany Kriegstein: It's a huge mix. I see a lot of kids who definitely aren't in school today. They're looking so excited. A lot of older people. Just really a melting pot of New York City. Everyone's here with the same excitement for this hometown team, something I think a lot of people thought that they wouldn't get to see, and maybe some new fans, definitely some longtime fans. It's just a really diverse crowd.

Brian Lehrer: Greg, ticker tape parades are named after ticker tape, duh. For listeners who aren't familiar, what is or was ticker tape, and why did Lower Manhattan become the birthplace of ticker tape parades?

Greg Young: Yes, we wouldn't have it without these odd little machines, which we don't really use anymore, called stock tickers. They came about around the 1860s, and of course, since Lower Manhattan was the center of American finance, every office had them. They're basically these little thin strips of paper that would real-time for the, as much real-time as they could do then, stock quotes and things like that. Of course, at the end of the day, they would have just mounds and mounds of paper.

That particular from on Broadway between The Battery and City Hall has always been used for celebrations and great dignitaries who've come into town, and because, of course, it also happens to be where the skyscrapers begin crawling up towards the sky and buildings are very tall. It creates this very interesting canyon. All of a sudden, when you have parties and celebrations, you turn over and you're just like, where can we get some confetti? Oh, well, it seems like some office workers are around.

I believe the first one was in 1886 and began just heaping it out of their windows in just large quantities, and it created this magical appearance because of these taller buildings that are a little bit tighter. There's something kind of magical about a ticker tape parade, and which they are thrown all over the world today, but they are, in fact, invented in Lower Manhattan.

Brian Lehrer: That first ticker tape parade, which was impromptu, not an official one planned by the city, was in 1886, as you say, not for a person or a team, but a statue, right?

Greg Young: Right. Well, it's kind of appropriate, right, that the Liberty is getting one today. There's this great symmetry because in October 28th, 1886, it was for the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty. I mean, the whole city was celebrating in multiple ways. Everyone was. This part of that parade, though, was was not scripted. It was an impromptu celebration, but one that people loved so much because it felt like it was embodying the joy and celebration that people were feeling. It became adopted very quickly into the whole celebration circuit of New York.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Since then, there have been more than 200 ticker tape parades. I'm just going to name a few names here. Wikipedia has a list of people, really, that have gotten multiple ticker tape parades. Robert E. Byrd, who honestly, I never knew about until I looked it up this morning, a polar explorer, got three. Amelia Earhart got two. Dwight Eisenhower got two. Charles de Gaulle got two. Haile Selassie got two. The astronaut John Glenn got two. I'll mention one person who got one. I remember the ticker tape parade. Nelson Mandela got a ticker tape parade in 1990.

Among sports teams, the Yankees have had nine after championships, the US Olympic team five, plus two individual parades for Jesse Owens and Carol Heiss. The Mets have had three. The New York Giants football team has had two. Brittany, back to you. The Liberty's first-ever championship win. They had previously gone to the finals five times, including the league's first year, way back when in the '90s and last year, too, but it never won. What are people saying about why this year and why this team is so special?

Brittany Kriegstein: Well, I think what we're seeing is a convergence of a lot of factors. Women's sports are having an amazing year, obviously, with Caitlin Clark and all of that success in basketball earlier on. I was also talking to the team's owner, Clara Wu Tsai, who was saying that this has been a long time coming, the support for the team over years, and obviously, a roster of some really talented players. I think everything just came together to make this year really, really special.

You can feel that with the fans here. You can feel the excitement around women's basketball that I think is something new and on the rise.

Brian Lehrer: Let's take a phone call from a former woman's basketball player who must be happy today. Gail in Queens. Gail, you're on WNYC. Thank you so much for calling in.

Gail Marquis: Hey there, Brian. Nice to be here. First time, first time. My name is Gail Marquis, and sadly, I have all of the praise for the New York Liberty, they're standing on the shoulders of, but I did want to mention that the New York Stars of the Women's Basketball League, we won a championship for New York City in 1980. Brian, we were coached by Dean "The Dream" Meminger.

Brian Lehrer: Wow.

Gail Marquis: We played our opening games at Madison Square Garden, finished up the season playing at Queens College, and we had to beat the Iowa Cornettes. We beat them three games to one and brought home a championship to New York City. Unfortunately, women's basketball wasn't as popular and women in sports wasn't as popular, but still, we were on the shoulders of, and we're so happy for the New York Liberty and what they're doing. Just wanted to mention the New York Stars, Dean Meminger.

Brian Lehrer: No, that's so great. Yes, Dean Meminger, who is, of course, a member of the New York Knicks, and glad that you shouted out your own team's championship. I guess that was in a league before the current WNBA, right?

Gail Marquis: Yes, that's right. We were the WBL, Women's Basketball League, and unfortunately, we rose, we had three seasons. We won the championship, and we didn't get a ticker tape because the team folded shortly after that. Then, to add onto that, I went over to the New Jersey Gems to play for them, and then after that, the league folded. At least we gave them a spark and people realized that there was a place for women and women's basketball.

Brian, I also want to add that I was on the first-ever women's Olympic basketball team. We won a silver medal against Russia. That was in 1976. We didn't get a ticker tape, but I'm still proud of the Olympic championship that I have, the WBL championship as well.

Brian Lehrer: Gail Annette Marquis, we are so honored that you called us in, a marquee caller on The Brian Lehrer Show today. There you go, Greg, a little bit of New York basketball women's history.

Greg Young: Oh, I know. That's great.

Brian Lehrer: Championship, but without a ticker tape parade.

Greg Young: I mean, what's amazing is, believe it or not, women athletes have been given ticker tape parades for almost 100 years. There were these two women who swam the English Channel in the mid-1920s, that they got a ticker tape parade. Amelia Earhart, she was a pilot, but in many ways, flying back then seemed like a daredevil sport. Of course, just recently, 2015 and 2019, the US women's national soccer team won the FIFA World cup in both those years, and in both those years, they got ticker tape parades.

Brian Lehrer: That's right. The last three sports parades in New York in the Canyon of Heroes have been for women's teams. Maybe the Yankees will break that streak in about two weeks. We'll see. Rachel in Rockland county remembers going to a different kind of ticker tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes. Rachel, thank you for calling in. Hey there.

Rachel: Hi. My first ticker tape parade was actually seeing the astronauts when they came back in, I believe it was '63. That was really interesting because my poor mom picked me-- I started screaming and crying, and apparently that was my first dislocation. I have a rare genetic disorder that causes a lot of joint dislocation and subluxation, and my poor mom thought she had done something terrible to me. Fortunately, we found out in my adult years that she had not. That was very exciting-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Why do you think you-- [crosstalk] Let me ask you real quick. Why do you think you reacted so emotionally to seeing astronauts?

Rachel: I'm sorry?

Brian Lehrer: Why do you think-- You said you were-- [crosstalk]

Rachel: Yes, because they were the astronauts.

Brian Lehrer: Because they were the astronauts.

Rachel: Because they were the astronauts.

Brian Lehrer: The answer is self-evident. Brittany, back at the parade route, since stock tickers and ticker tape are a thing of the past, as Greg was pointing out, what are people doing now? Are they scrolling a confetti app on their phones, or what are they doing?

Brittany Kriegstein: Well, believe it or not, Brian, there is actually what looks to me like ticker tape falling from windows all along this route. It probably does look different than how it looked back in the day. It's probably a little bit more uniform, but people are throwing confetti out of the windows, including some other kinds of streamers, things of all shapes and sizes, but clearly that ticker tape tradition is still alive and well here.

Brian Lehrer: Can you tell, is it too early in the parade to say if there's a particular player or a particular float getting the biggest cheers?

Brittany Kriegstein: Well, since I'm up ahead of the floats right now, I haven't heard that yet, but I was over at the staging area by Battery Park earlier, and of course, when Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart showed up, there was a lot of hype. They were looking really happy and excited. Jonquel Jones actually leaned down and signed the hoodie of a small fan, and of course, the photographers all flocked over, so I'm sure that they'll all be getting a lot of cheers. The crowd is just, I think, ready to see them and honor them at this point.

Brian Lehrer: Did you happen to see the sign, Brittany? A listener has texted us. It says, two BL and Liberty super fans, so some pair of people are listening to The Brian Lehrer show and attending to the parade. There's intersectionality. We thought the listeners would appreciate our signs. One reads, Eric Adams has never been to a Liberty game. Have you seen that sign, by any chance?

Brittany Kriegstein: I haven't yet, but I'm definitely going to look for it. There's some great signs out here, so I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Brian Lehrer: Greg, for you, as a historian, here's another piece of ticker tape parade and WNYC intersectionality. Do I say correctly that official ticker tape parades were the brainchild of a city official named Grover Whalen, the same guy who created WNYC in 1924?

Greg Young: Yes. You are doing right now what he had intended 100 years ago because-- so the ticker tape parades were a little bit scattershot, a little bit chaotic until after World War I. The city decided to start a new committee, a reception of distinguished guests that was organized parades and gatherings of all kind. Mayor John Whalen then put Grover Whalen in the role. The ticker taped parades we see today, the fundamental DNA of them was basically created by and organized by Grover Whalen.

Of course, then in 1924, he creates a radio station that would celebrate and document these types of things in the city, the movements and the culture of the city. Yes, and so that's how WNYC actually is tied to the history of ticker tape parades.

Brian Lehrer: Let's take one more caller. Here's Brian in the Bronx, who says he's a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Records, and I guess he's all over ticker tape parade history. Brian, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Brian: Hey, Brian. Hi, Greg. I say bring back Grover Whalen, we need him again.

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Brian: Yes, my agency, under the capable hands of my assistant commissioner Ken Cobb, made a complete list of all the ticker tape parades in New York City, and so much so that they are actually enshrined in the sidewalk along Broadway in the Canyon of Heroes. You can see them when you walk along, so that's something to point out.

Brian Lehrer: You have any favorites, ones that you think were most memorable either for yourself or for the city?

Brian: The astronauts, the Apollo 11 astronauts by far the best.

Brian Lehrer: After they were--

Brian: 1969, [unintelligible 00:16:41] age.

Brian Lehrer: Brian, thank you very much. By the way, we will end this with me going back to those two Brian Lehrer Show and Liberty superfans who are texting from the historic parade. I read one of their signs. It says, Eric Adams has never been to a Liberty game. The other says, Ellie for mayor, which is a reference to the mascot of Liberty, Ellie the elephant, and JJ, Jonquel Jones for secretary of defense. How about that? Combining politics and basketball hoopla down on the parade route. Brittany Krigstein, WNYC reporter, have fun covering the parade. We'll hear you through the day.

Brittany Kriegstein: Thank you so much, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Co-host of The Bowery Boys New York City History Podcast, Greg Young, thank you so much for filling in some of the historical blanks. Super fun.

Greg Young: Oh, yes. Thank you so much, Brian. Congrats to the Liberty, and to all their fans, have a great time today.

 

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