Go Yankees!

Hello everyone! Yesterday was a memorable day here in NYC - it was the day of the famous Yankees parade! For those of you who do not know (just as I didn't until recently...) Yankees are the NY baseball team who after 8 unsuccessful years won their 27th World Series title in the new Yankee Stadium last Wednesday night by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3. And yesterday they celebrated they victory with a parade on Broadway, which started at 11AM at Battery Place and continued north to the Citi Hall where Mayor Bloomberg presented the team with the the keys to the city.

Already at 8AM in the morning I saw people dressed in yankee jerseys and decorated with white and blue face paint making their way to Broadway to grab the best spots for the parade. There was even a team of German tourists that got all dressed up and came for support. At the office many fellow bankers traded their suits for jerseys as well and half the building was planning to go see the parade.

Getting there was crazy, police blocked all access to Broadway but we actually managed to sneak in and join the crowds :) Everyone was excited and elated, shouting and celebrating. People working in the buildings close to Broadway and on Broadway itself were throwing down shredded paper / confetti, those who did not have any were throwing down toilet paper rolls that were floating high in the air :)))

From NY Diaries

From NY Diaries

From NY Diaries

as the parade was approaching, even though we were nowhere near the front line, the crowd was getting more and more excited and started chanting "who's your daddy?! who's your daddy?! who's your daddy?!" Apparently the chant dates back to 2004 when Pedro Martinez, who now plays for the team that lost (Philadelphia Phillies) made the following post-game comment after a tough loss to Yankees:

"They beat me. They're that good right now. They're that hot. I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy."

Source: here

A lot of celebrities were in the neighborhood including Jay-Z, Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson.

I wish I was on one of those busses yesterday :-) :

From NY Diaries

From NY Diaries

Some people trying to climb the fire trucks

From NY Diaries

This guy had one of the best vantage points :-)

From NY Diaries

There were others less fortunate that could not get as close as they wanted to the parade

From NY Diaries

All in all it was great to be around Broadway yesterday and be in the middle of all this buzz and excitement. Though I think that the news papers omitted to mention one of the oldest yankees fans below:

Have a great weekend everyone! :))