Clyde Frazier will be on hand as Alicia Keys closes the New York Knicks championship parade at City Hall on Thursday, performing "Empire State of Mind."
Alicia Keys' City Hall Set
Alicia Keys will close out the City Hall celebration on Thursday with her and Jay-Z’s New York anthem "Empire State of Mind." A source said, "The Knicks are bringing in the big guns!"
New York Knicks Procession Route
The New York Knicks will parade through lower Manhattan, beginning near Battery Park around 10:00 a.m., travel up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes and conclude at City Hall where there will be speeches, musical performances and a presentation of the keys to the city.
Alicia Keys Premiere Reaction
Keys missed the final game on Saturday in San Antonio because she was at the Tribeca Festival for the premiere of her documentary "Girl From Hell’s Kitchen," but she celebrated the Knicks' title at her premiere after-party by wearing a Knicks jacket and singing "Empire State of Mind." On Instagram she wrote, "It’s a New York moment!!!!!!🗽✨" and "The @nyknicks are officially world champions 🏀." She also posted, "Celebrating the greatest city in the world!!!!! Let’s go New York🧡💙."
In behind-the-scenes TikTok footage from her dressing room Keys said, "Let’s go New York!" and added, "I gotta change my whole show now." Guests at her after-party included Natasha Lyonne, Angela Simmons, Lena Waithe, Jane Rosenthal and Nas.
The parade comes five days after the final game on Saturday, marking a rapid turnaround from the Knicks' 2026 NBA Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs to a public street celebration in lower Manhattan.
Organizers have scheduled the procession to start near Battery Park at about 10:00 a.m. and carry the team up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes, ending at City Hall where the program will include multiple speeches and musical performances that culminate with Keys' closing number and the presentation of the keys to the city.
Her absence from the San Antonio final creates a small contradiction: she missed the on-court victory night in person but celebrated publicly at her own premiere and will now perform live at the City Hall sendoff.
What remains most immediate for fans is the setlist beyond "Empire State of Mind": Keys' TikTok line, "I gotta change my whole show now," suggests additions, but the exact program for City Hall beyond her closing song has not been detailed.
