My First NY Ticker tape parade

American football is divided into two leagues (kind of like when we had the ARL and Super league) and at the end of each football season the two winners from each league face-off at the Superbowl. This year it was the New York Giants vs the New England Patriots. 

The two weeks leading up to the Superbowl were electric in the city, everyone was weighing in who would win. Apparently there is a great rivalry between the Giants and the Patriots, similar to the State of Origin series between NSW and Queensland. So the Friday before the game (held on a Sunday afternoon/evening) I went down to Party City and got a couple of foil balloons in the shape of a football that had New York Giants all over them and I tied them to the TV stand. 

Walking through the city on the way home with these balloons I keep getting people yelling out to me "Go the Giants". It was a lot of fun.

What also happens during the superbowl game is that all the new funny adds are shown by the really big companies, so some people watch the superbowl for the game and others watch it for the adds. We watched it for both. 

Bryan and I decided not to go to one of the many bars that was showing the game, instead we decided to have our own little picnic with yummy goodies at our place. There is nothing better than being able to pause a game when you want to get a drink re-fill or run to the bathroom. 

We had a lot of fun and it was a good game - in the end the New York Giants won - just. But they still won. You could hear people honking their horns and partying on the streets.

The next day it was announced that there would be a ticker tape parade to congratulate the Giants team. It would be held down in the business end of Manhattan, right near the World Trade Centre site, going up Broadway. 

I got there with about 90 minutes to spare before the start of the parade and I could get no where near Broadway. The closest I got was 2 blocks back - that's how many people came. I didn't mind. Everyone was enjoying the morning and it became a bit of a carnival atmosphere.

I saw on one of the news channels that some companies along the route were having paper brought in for the occasion for their staff to throw down onto the parade. 

The crowds of people was crazy.

I love this photo - everyone with their phones in the air seeing and recording the parade.
Welcome to the new way to view a parade!

Members/Staff of the New York Giants and their families. 

Ticker tape falling.

More paper.

The after effects. 

I stayed around for a while after the parade reached City Hall where the team were given the keys to New York city and during that period the street cleaners were already out clearing the paper off the streets. Well Done New York!

One of the cake shops near by decided to ice and decorate a cake whilst the parade was going on. Then they cut it up and gave it out to anyone who wanted a piece.

One of the things I really love about New York City is that you never know what you are going to see or hear when you walk down the next block. I have on many occasions been walking down the street and someone will be walking home from work or wherever it is that they have been and they will be singing out loud. It puts a smile on my face.  Another thing that I love are the number of street dancing crews. Below are some photos of a group of dancers that were performing a few blocks down from where the parade took place.