PATERSON — Victor Cruz, the pride of Paterson, returned to his home town today to celebrate a Super Bowl victory with his most loyal fans.

So what if it’s two months later? This was Paterson’s time.

So what if Market Street isn’t exactly the Canyon of Heroes? This is home.

The Giants star wide receiver hopped out of a black SUV at 2 p.m. and onto his parade float. "Celebration of a Champion," the banner read.

And the people who showed to shower their star with love were celebrating the city as much as its champion.

"Paterson New Jersey knows how to do it right," yelled Mayor Jeffery Jones.

About 2,000 people turned out for the afternoon parade, which began at the Great Falls and ended at City Hall.

Chants of "Paterson" sandwiched bellows for "Cruuuuuuz."

Children ran and skipped along as Cruz’s float made its way downtown. They screamed for autographs, competed for the best iPhone picture, and waived at their hero.

The ladies in the crowd were screaming for something else — they wanted the salsa.

"I don’t got my dancing shoes on" Cruz said, somewhat timidly.

But he couldn’t resist. Somewhere around Prospect Street, the music and cheering got the better of Cruz and he gave the throngs what they were begging for, shaking his hips, moving his elbows in time with the music that filled the downtown streets.

"It was crazy, it felt like a dream," the 25-year-old Cruz said after the festivities.

Cruz caught a touchdown pass in the Superbowl and — in his first season as a starter — became known for electrifying breakaway touchdown catches and his "Silk City Salsa" end zone dance paying homage to his Paterson roots.

Benjie Wimberly, a state assemblyman and Cruz’s former football coach at Paterson Catholic High School worked with staff in the mayor’s office to raise $50,000 in donations to cover the cost of the parade. The cash-strapped city is barred from spending money for "celebratory purposes" under an agreement the city signed with the state to receive $21 million in transitional aid for the 2011-12 fiscal-year budget, which ends in June.

Most of the donated funds will be used to pay police officers assigned to provide security for the parade.

Paterson had planned to honor Cruz with a ticker-tape parade and a key to the city on Feb. 12, only a week after the Giants defeated the New England Patriots, 21-17, in Indianapolis. But Cruz’s renown as football star and dance celebrity proved that celebration’s undoing as he had a scheduling conflict that night.

However, time did not dampen the celebratory spirit.

Wesley Coke took his three boys to the parade — Giants fans all. He hoped that his sons — ages 6, 4 and 3 — would see something more than a football player, see something worthy of aspiring to, see someone from Paterson who worked hard and made good.

"I’m definitely supportive of anyone from Paterson," Coke said. "I have them here so they can see what is going on and maybe one day we can be celebrating their victory."

The Record of Woodland Park contributed to this report.