By Tom Liddy
MANHATTAN — Get ready for a Giant celebration.
Fresh off a Super Bowl victory, New York is getting ready to honor its sports heroes with a ticker-tape parade in Lower Manhattan — and some lucky fans will have front row seats to the festivities.
The festivities are set for Tuesday morning rain or shine, kicking off at 11 a.m. at Battery Place and Washington Street and continuing north up the Canyon of Heroes to Worth Street.
“Big Blue gave us a game to remember, and on Tuesday we're going to give them a parade to remember,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Sunday night, the city announced that there will be a sweepstakes to win VIP tickets to the parade beginning at 9 a.m. Monday.
The city plans to give away 250 pairs of tickets to residents of the tri-state area who are 18-years-old or older to attend the ceremony following the parade in which the team will be presented with the Keys to the City.
Eager fans will be able to click, text, or call 311 for a chance to win during the give-away, which ends at 11 a.m. The public can also enter through the Mayor's Office twitter page.
Further details are available on the city's website.After the parade, the Giants will be presented with the Keys to the City in a ceremony at City Hall.
While all members of the public are invited to line the parade route, there is limited space at City Hall for the ceremony, although there will be large screens set up to accommodate those without passes.
Other tickets to the ceremony will be distributed by elected officials and members of community organizations.
But the mayor's office cautioned that those attending the ceremony will not likely be able to attend the parade because access to CIty Hall Plaza will begin early.
City officials also warned that there are no tickets to the parade itself and that any offer of tickets are fraudulent.
Tickets to the ceremony are not for resale, the mayor's office said.
Additional reporting by Jill Colvin