Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Tuesday morning that the city will hold a rolling rally parade on Friday at 11 a.m. to celebrate the Boston Celtics' 18th NBA Championship.
During the parade, the mayor's office said Celtics players will celebrate on Boston's famous duck boats, which has been the tradition in the city for past championship teams.
The parade will begin in front of TD Garden on Causeway Street, passing by City Hall Plaza and the Boston Common on Tremont Street and ending on Boylston Street by the Hynes Convention Center. Wu said the city is expecting "well over 1 million" people in the city for the event.
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“We know these players in our city because they’ve come with us to visit Boston Public Schools students, they’ve visited patients in our children’s hospitals and other health care sites across the city. They’ve just shown up in public parks around the city," the mayor said as she congratulated the team on the win, calling the organization "absolutely fantastic community partners."
Public safety and staying cool in the heat
Boston police have called in all the officers and will have uniformed and plainclothes officers out in force. They will also have assistance from other agencies, including Massachusetts State Police. Authorities encourage parade-goers to report anything suspicious to law enforcement.
Visitors are reminded that public drinking or use of marijuana is prohibited in the city.
With extreme heat in the forecast, visitors are reminded to dress for the weather. There will be misting tents available to help cool down at City Hall Plaza and the Boston Common. The Boston Fire Department and Boston EMS will be out in force on foot, on bicycle and in vehicles to be able to get around the parade in case of emergency. If you need medical attention along the parade route, you're encouraged to flag someone down. Be aware of the signs of heat sickness and if you feel unwell, try to cool down immediately.
Visitors are also reminded to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen and to look out for their friends or other people around them.
Parking restrictions and street closures
There will be numerous street closures and parking bans on and around the parade route. The city will begin towing vehicles from restricted areas at midnight on Friday. Information on the road closures is available at boston.gov/Celtics.
Public transit options
Visitors are encouraged to take public transit. The MBTA will be running all subway lines on a peak service schedule and there will be extra trains scheduled on the Commuter Rail before and after the parade to accommodate visitors. General Manager Philip Eng said they are confident they should be able to maintain this level of service and have done significant prep for the volume and in anticipation of the weather.
More information on the service schedule is available at MBTA.com/Celtics.
The Bluebikes system will also be an option for navigating the city. More information on that is available here.
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Wu spoke Monday about how the upcoming heat wave might factor in to any Celtics celebrations, and she said there were meetings going on Monday morning at City Hall, "to talk through what the projections are and what the forecasts are, if it is likely to be above a certain threshold of the heat index for multiple days at a time."
Later Monday, Wu's office declared a heat emergency in Boston, triggering cooling centers and other measures to keep the population cool.
"It's also the last week of school in the Boston Public Schools, and so there's some half days, and we're thinking about how that affects students who might need a full day of support as well," Wu said. "So we'll have more to come probably very shortly on that front."
The Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to win the franchise's 18th championship, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history. It was the first time they'd won the NBA title since 2008 and marks the 13th championship won this century by one of Boston's Big 4 professional sports franchises.
