Knicks fans wake up early, crowd NYC for championship parade - ESPN

On Saturday night, the New York Knicks won their third NBA championship. And on Thursday morning, the franchise enjoyed its first ticker-tape parade down New York's Canyon of Heroes.

A unique quirk in New York City parade history is responsible for Thursday marking an unusual Knicks first. In the 1970s, when the team won its first two NBA Finals, the tradition of ticker-tape parades in the Big Apple was on hiatus.

Combine that with a 53-year title drought, and Thursday morning came with a lot of anticipation.

Gates for the parade officially opened at 6 a.m. local time. Capacity inside viewing areas was reached less than 90 minutes later… a full three hours before the parade was set to start. One rather direct solution to beating the swarms of fans flocking to the city? Show up as early as you possibly can.

From Long Island to New Jersey, train stations across New York and the city's broader metropolitan area were a little more packed than they'd usually be during the morning's earliest hours.

But an early wakeup is a small price to pay for a better seat to a special parade.

Just ask Knicks fan John Kaplan.

«The night we won the championship, we were talking to the few people that we were with, talking to people on the phone the very next morning, and they said, 'Are you going to go to the parade?' I said, 'Of course,'» Kaplan told ESPN at 4:20 a.m. inside of the Hoboken, New Jersey, PATH station. «And they said, 'What time are you going to go?' I said, 'I'll probably leave around 4.'

»They're like, 'PM?' I was like, 'What are you talking about? AM.'"

He stayed true to his word. And he wasn't the only one.

Alfred Alcaide knew he wanted to be there, front and center, no matter the cost. So he drove down from Washington