Crowds roar, bells ring as NYC fetes Yankees

NEW YORK — Crowds roared and church bells rang in lower Manhattan on Friday as the Yankees' World Series championship celebration revved up with a ticker-tape parade.

As the players on floats made their way through Wall Street toward City Hall Plaza, a loud roar rose above Broadway and confetti rained down on the parade.

University of Delaware student Suzanne Giraud said she lost her voice celebrating the championship.

"Now I'm here to celebrate the guardians of the dynasty," she said.

At a subway station near the parade route, fans packed the staircase chanting, "Let's go Yankees!" They also sang "New York, New York."

Vincent Rogner, an 18-year-old senior at a Catholic high school in Queens, skipped classes Friday with some friends to attend the parade.

"I'm a die-hard Yankees fan," he said. "I love the intensity."

Rogner said his favorite part of the last game of the series was when Hideki Matsui tied the World Series record with six RBIs on a home run.

"We want to be with the fans who have our same passion," Rogner said.

Matsui's six RBIs helped the Yankees to the 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Revelers arrived early Friday to get a good spot along the route though many were forced to pack surrounding streets.

Gov. David Paterson and rapper Jay-Z were among those in the parade.

After the players arrive at City Hall Plaza, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will give them the keys to the city.

Bells were ringing at historic Trinity Church, but the roar of the crowds drowned out the sound.

Reggie Jackson said the Yankees' 27th title has him thinking "a lot" about owner George Steinbrenner.

"I wish he was here," Jackson said.

George Steinbrenner has made few public appearances since his health deteriorated in recent years. He attended the first two games against the Phillies, returning to the new Yankee Stadium for the first time since opening day.

His son, Hal, took over the day-to-day operations of the team last November.

"A magical day," Hal Steinbrenner said. "New York just has the best fans in the world."

Lower Broadway is known as the Canyon of Heroes. Some 200 ticker-tape parades have been held there, for heroes ranging from astronauts to sports champions to five-star generals.

The victory gave Yankees fans further ammunition to their boast that the Bronx Bombers are the greatest franchise in baseball history with an unprecedented 27 world championships in 40 trips to the World Series.

Some Yankees fans also were quick to note that Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins had predicted a Philadelphia victory in five games; as it turns out, as it turned out, the Yankees won the series in six games.