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The city that never sleeps was popping bottles under a confetti shower on Thursday morning to celebrate the New York Liberty's first WNBA championship. This was also the ending of a 51-year professional basketball title drought in New York. 

"It means a lot to be able to bring the first championship here," said Breanna Stewart, a New York native. "My first WNBA game was a Liberty game, when we played at MSG, so to be able [to have] a full-circle moment, come here, come back, bring the championship here... we're not done yet."

The parade began at 10 a.m. in Lower Manhattan and wrapped up with a ceremony at City Hall. Here are some of the highlights from the celebration.

Stew York City

Breanna Stewart went on social media to ask someone at the parade to hand her a bottle of red wine when her float passed by. Her city delivered.

The New York native joined the Liberty last year after seven seasons with the Seattle Storm. She won two titles in Seattle, but this most recent one was special because she was representing her hometown.

She drank the wine, but Stewart also enjoyed spraying the crowd with champagne.

Sabrina Ionescu's dons victory jacket

Ionescu was the first No. 1 draft pick for the New York Liberty in 2020, and four years later she brought a championship to the city. She showed up to the parade with a custom Nike Destroyer jacket.

Ionescu was born in California and went to college in Oregon, but she is feeling right at home in NYC.

"I think I'm a New Yorker now," Ionescu said.

Ionescu also made a fan's day by signing her Sabrina 2s in the middle of the parade.

Jonquel Jones leads chant

Jones' arrival in 2023, along with Stewart's, was the start of this superteam. The 2024 WNBA Finals MVP not only did the griddy on stage, but she also led a "We all we got, we all we need" chant with the crowd. Jones had lost two consecutive finals -- with Connecticut in 2022 and the Liberty in 2023 -- before finally winning this one.

According to social media, Jones also had the best float.

T-Spoon living her best life

Teresa Weatherspoon fired from her Chicago Sky coaching position in September, but she still got to celebrate the end of the 2024 season with the team she played for from 1997–2003.

Ellie the Elephant did her thing

The Liberty mascot danced and crawled through the city while celebrating with fans, but things didn't slow down when she got to City Hall. She and Keni Burke danced on the stage, and Ellie had New York City Mayor Eric Adams hold her purse. 

Maddie makes surprise appearance

The Liberty mascot since 1997 was a dog named Maddie, who was named after Madison Square Garden. The team switched to Ellie the Elephant as the main mascot in 2021. But Maddie was here from the start, so she deserved to have her moment too.