NYC holds giant parade to celebrate Giants Super Bowl win

NEW YORK, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- New York City held on Tuesday a massive ticker-tape parade in honor of the Super Bowl XLVI champions New York Giants.

About one million fans were estimated to have lined the confetti-strewn parade route in lower Manhattan as they cheered for Giants MVP quarterback Eli Manning, defensive end Justin Tuck and the rest of the winning team.

"I feel it's really great because it doesn't happen too often, and it's great that the Giants could win, because it was unexpected that a regular season team losing seven games could actually win," a New York Giants fan named Zane told Xinhua.

Immediately following the parade, team members gathered at City Hall where Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented them with keys to the City.

"We are here today because this team of Giants believed in each other and because you believed in them," Bloomberg told the crowd.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin said during the ceremony that the Giants were successful because they never gave up. "The key thing was to remember this: all things are possible for those who believe," Coughlin said. "We always believed."

The City estimated that the parade will have an economic impact of up to 38 million U.S. dollars, boosting the City's thriving tourism industry, which has a record 50.5 million tourists in 2011.