Waves of shredded paper rained on Lower Manhattan yesterday as a city tradition dating back to the dedication of the Statue of Liberty was renewed along the Canyon of Heroes.

Thousands of fans dressed in blue and red lined up along the sidewalks of Broadway, taking up what seemed like every inch of open real estate, to honor the Giants for their Super Bowl victory. “You have to experience this parade to know it,” the team’s head coach, Tom Coughlin, said at a post-parade ceremony at City Hall. “That showing of loyalty and response to our championship season was just something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.”

The celebration kicked off just after 11 a.m., and multiple floats adorned with the Giants logo carried groups of about five players each up the historic route that begins at the U.S. Custom House. Staggered in between were friends and family riding on red doubledecker buses, elected officials waving from convertibles, and marching bands playing familiar fight songs.

Chants of “Defense” and “Let’s Go Giants” rang out.

“Everybody’s here for the same reason,” a 25-year-old paralegal from Long Island who took the day off from work to attend the parade, Kellie Ebe, said. “It’s like you’re part of something bigger.” The cheers around City Hall Park reached a climax at about noon, when a float carrying the Giants career sack leader, Michael Strahan, the Super Bowl MVP, quarterback Eli Manning, and Mayor Bloomberg passed by.

The celebration moved to the steps of City Hall at about 1 p.m. Talk show host Whoopi Goldberg opened the festivities before the radio voice of the Giants, Bob Papa, introduced a group of elected officials that included Mr. Bloomberg, Governor Spitzer, and Senator Schumer.

Music played as a line of Giants, led by team owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, marched in from the west side of City Hall amid a roar of cheers. Messrs. Strahan and Manning carried in both the conference and Super Bowl trophies that were placed on a table to the right of the podium.

Mr. Bloomberg spoke first, introducing at one point what would become a common theme of the ceremony: smearing the Giants opponent, the Patriots.

“The Giants may not be perfect, but then again, no one is,” he said. “But here’s what the Giants are: the Super Bowl champions.”

Mr. Spitzer took the stage next to a mixture of boos and applause. He joked about a presidential ballot with Mr. Coughlin for president and Mr. Manning as vice president. He added that the coach of the Patriots, Bill Belichick, who was mired in scandal last year after a member of his staff was caught videotaping a New York Jets practice, would be the director of the CIA.

Before Mr. Bloomberg handed out keys to the city, Mr. Schumer presented a resolution celebrating the championship to Mr. Coughlin.

“Ted Kennedy had to vote for it. John Kerry had to vote for it. Every senator had to vote for it because now the Giants are not just New York’s team they are America’s team,” he said.

Messrs. Strahan and Manning were the last to stand in front of the podium.

In his typical showman style, Mr. Strahan replayed to the crowd a pre-game ritual of the team’s defense, in which they “stomp out” an opponent.

“We would like to extend this to every team in the NFL and particularly for the last team we defeated, the New England Patriots. We stomped you out,” he said.

Mr. Manning, an ever-unassuming character, was last to speak for the team. Chants of MVP filled the air. “It’s been an unbelievable journey,” he said.

The parade marked what is estimated to be the 203rd tickertape parade to travel up the Canyon of Heroes, and the first to celebrate a championship for a football team.