Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Yankees opened and closed the decade as the toast of New York.

Nine years after being honored for their 26th World Series title, Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees are sharing another ticker-tape parade with fans today after clinching the title two days ago, defeating the defending-champion Philadelphia Phillies.

The procession began on Broadway at Battery Place this morning, continuing through the financial district before Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented the team keys to the city during a ceremony in City Hall Plaza. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years, but having it be nine years, you forget how magical this is,” Hal Steinbrenner, the team’s managing general partner, said at the ceremony.

The scene at City Hall, as one police officer described it, was one of “controlled chaos,” with barricades set up to contain the crowd and to cordon off streets for emergency vehicles.

The crowds, totaling several hundred thousand, were five- and six-people deep on the sidewalks lining the half-mile parade route up Broadway. Police declined to give an estimate of total parade attendees, though the city planned for as many as 1 million.

The Fans

Gordon Moore, 38, from Hunts Point in the Bronx, held one of 500 tickets to the ceremony, won yesterday after an online and telephone lottery that drew more than 37,000 entrees. He brought his 9-year-old son, Gordon Moore II.

“It was amazing because I never win anything,” said Moore, a midnight-to-8 a.m. security guard at a building in Union Square, still marveling at his stroke of good luck. “My wife is stuck at work but look at how happy my boy is. He’s a huge Yankee fan.”

Outside City Hall, at the terminus of the parade route, Carlene LaGreca, 57, stood right at the gate, the closest she could get without getting inside. LaGreca said she arrived there at 4 a.m.

A nurse who works for the city, LaGreca said she decided to go because she’s “in love with the Yankees” and is thinking of moving to Florida. After logging more than 500 hours at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she said she plans to move to Florida to deal with persistent respiratory problems.

“This may be my last chance to see this and I didn’t want to miss it,” she said. “I couldn’t get any of my friends to come with me. Who is going to do this at my age? They all think I’m crazy, and I am crazy -- about my Yankees.”

Parade for Giants

The Yankees were the first team honored by the city this decade following their October 2000 win over the cross-town rival New York Mets. While earlier honorees included astronauts, Charles Lindbergh and Dwight Eisenhower, the only other such Manhattan parade this decade was in February 2008 following the New York Giants’ win over the New England Patriots in the National Football League’s Super Bowl.

This is the 206th ticker-tape parades to be held in the financial district area known as the “Canyon of Heroes” since the 1886 dedication of the Statue of Liberty, today’s was the eighth that celebrated the team nicknamed the Bronx Bombers.

It’s the fifth title for 35-year-old captain Derek Jeter, one of four players left from the Yankee teams that won four World Series in a five-year span starting in 1996. Andy Pettitte, who collected his record-extending 18th career postseason win in the series-clinching game, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada also collect their fifth rings.

‘Too Long’

“It’s been too long, hasn’t it?,” Jeter asked fans at the ceremony. “It feels good to be back.”

Manager Joe Girardi, who won three World Series titles as a Yankees catcher, led New York to a major-league best 103-59 regular-season record this year, his second leading the team.

Girardi said he spoke this morning to team owner George Steinbrenner, whose health kept him from making the trip from his home in Florida to attend the festivities.

“He said, ‘the only thing greater than this celebration is doing it two years in a row,’” Girardi said. “He asked me to remind everyone that pitchers and catchers report in 96 days and be ready to defend it.”

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record by driving in six runs at Yankee Stadium during the World Series-clinching 7-3 win over Philadelphia. He become the first Japanese player and first full-time designated hitter named most valuable player.

New Stadium

The championship completes a year in which the Yankees opened their new $1.5 billion stadium and spent $424 million to add All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira and pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett after missing the playoffs last season. It also marked the emergence of 12-time All-Star Alex Rodriguez from a three-year postseason slump, bringing him his first World Series title during his 16-season career.

The Yankees beat the Phillies four games to two in the best-of-seven series. Returning home after losing Game 5 in Philadelphia, the Yankees scored four runs in the first three innings off Phillies starting pitcher Pedro Martinez.

Hip-hop artist Jay-Z concluded today’s ceremony with his song, “Empire State of Mind.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net; Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 14:16 EST