Union Station Becomes Knicks Central

by Adele Haeg

Brett Martone, RJ Mirabile, and Kyle Saunders arrived at Union Station at around 6:15 a.m.: “We’re considered late. We were supposed to get here at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.,” Saunders said.

Tati Rivera on her way to the team’s championship parade.

Willie Darden II and his son, Willie Darden III, took the day off from work and school to head to the parade.

Knicks fan Tasha McClain holding a free Union Station bag handed out by Park New Haven’s Kathleen Krolak Thursday morning.

At around 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Kathleen Krolak from Park New Haven arrived at Union Station to hand out free waters to people in Knicks gear taking the Metro-North to New York City for the team’s championship parade. 

Plenty of bleary-eyed fans hurried through the station when Krolak got there. According to Union Station security guard George Kenyon, she missed the real rush. Kenyon said he saw about 100 people come to the station to catch the 3:58 a.m. train to Grand Central. 

“We normally don’t see that kind of rush that early,” Kenyon said.

Most people there Thursday morning were wearing orange and blue, Knicks colors, and several people passing through were wearing jerseys with star Knick Jalen Brunson’s named emblazoned on the back. 

Fans from New Haven and the surrounding area — some as far as Rhode Island — almost filled the 867-spot station parking garage before 7 a.m. Thursday for a chance to see the Knicks in New York.

Many were still buzzing from last Saturday’s Knicks victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals — securing New York’s first title since 1973. New Haveners at Union Station Thursday wanted “good company” to celebrate with, as fans Mike Blagnon and Cassie Knights said. 

The team’s championship parade is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to lower Manhattan — the New York Police Department has assigned 10,000 officers to the event, the most in city history. The parade was set to start at 10:00 a.m. 

In anticipation, Park New Haven, Visit New Haven, and the city organized a send-off for fans at Union Station, putting up banners congratulating Knicks fans, and sending them to the city with water and transparent bags, as well as Visit New Haven postcards. Krolak said the groups hold events like this frequently at the station, recently holding a similar send-off for the Yankees’ opener.  

Fans arriving at Union Station after 5 a.m. were less likely to get sidewalk spots with a view of the team’s float, but they did not want to miss any of the festivities. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this,” said fan Mettao Felix. 

Friends Sean Feeney and Connor Hearty said they were “ecstatic” about the Knicks’ win and getting to go to New York for the parade, since tickets to see games in the city were too expensive.

Students Finn Boyles and Jean Brios were wearing matching outfits they said they purchased Wednesday: orange polo shirts and blue athletic shorts. They heard people were camping out overnight in New York on the parade route — coordinating colors was far as they would go, they said. Brios, who is from New York, said he has been a fan for years, but Boyles is newer to the Knicks, a “bandwagon” fan, Brios teased. 

By 7:30 a.m., Krolak said she was getting tired. “People are really happy,” she said, smiling. She’s a Knicks fan too, she said, adding that she loves all New York teams. 

Kenyon, the security guard, anticipates that traffic from the parade and the Yankees game in the city this evening would also take over Union Station later on Thursday. He said, “about 11:00 or 12:00 p.m. tonight, this place will be a zoo.”

Mike Blagnon and Cassie Knights.

Jorge Sanpedro and Jake Gionfriddo getting ready to head to Grand Central.