Queens elected officials and Knicks fans traveled to City Hall in their droves Thursday morning to cheer on the NBA Championship-winning Knicks team at the end of a record-breaking ticker tape parade, which saw Mike Brown and his players receive keys to the city.
Fans and elected officials alike heralded the Knicks’ first NBA Championship in 53 years as a unifying force that brought neighbors and strangers together, and describing Thursday’s parade as a day that was 53 years in the making.
Many Queens-based Knicks fans woke before the break of dawn to land a spot at City Hall’s perimeter fence just so that they could catch a glimpse of the Key to the City ceremony, with many fans standing for hours on end for the opportunity.
Karl Anthony Towns celebrates at City Hall. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
All fans were agreed, however. It was worth it.
David Gaskin, a 52-year-old military veteran from Cambria Heights, reached the City Hall fence at 7 a.m., a full five hours before the ceremony was due to start. Gaskin had no regrets, describing the recent Championship win as once-in-a-lifetime.
“This is history in the making,” he said. “I never thought I was going to see this… I was about to freaking cry (when they won last Saturday).”
Steve Rowan, a firefighter based at Elmhurst’s Ladder 287, said the Championship win “means everything” to the city and recalled catching parts of Game 5 as he and his fellow firefighters rushed in and out of the station to tackle emergencies across the borough.
“We had some runs in between, but we got to watch and it was great,” Rowan said. “It was very tough… but we made the best of it.”
Steve Rowan (right) outside City Hall. Photo by Shane O’Brien.
Raymond Calderon and Ismael De La Cruz, who are originally from Ridgewood but have since moved to Florida, flew into New York City especially for Thursday’s celebrations.
“As soon as the Knicks won, we booked our flights within minutes,” Calderon said. “We had to come. We couldn’t miss it. I’m not saying this is once-in-a-lifetime because we’re definitely going to repeat, but it was so important to come here.”
Raymond Calderon and Ismael De La Cruz outside City Hall. Photo by Shane O’Brien.
Watching on from outside the city, Calderon said he was moved by how the victory united New Yorkers of all backgrounds.
“It was amazing to see the joy that people have, the joy that this team brings to us,” Calderon added. “No other city in the world deserves it more than New York.”
Long Island City’s Jesse Wu was lucky enough to snag one of the 600 free tickets to attend the ceremony, distributed by the Mamdani Administration in the lead-up to Thursday’s celebration.
Jesse Wu (left) snagged tickets to Thursday’s ceremony Photo by Shane O’Brien.
Wu, despite sitting in close proximity to the stage, could still not believe his luck, with more than 370,000 people applying for the coveted tickets.
“I got an email from the Mayor’s office and I didn’t think it was real. I’m sitting here now and it still doesn’t feel real,” Wu said.
Wu, who watched Game 5 at a friend’s apartment in Astoria, said he took time off work to come to Thursday’s parade – with encouragement from his boss.
“I took time off and my manager told me I should do it.”
Queens elected officials were equally giddy with excitement on Thursday, with many swapping their usually formal attire for Knicks merchandise.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards hailed the Championship victory as a force of unity during a time of “stark division,” adding that Thursday was a “special day” for New Yorkers.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and State Senator Zellmor Myrie attend the Knicks Championship celebration at City Hall. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
“My heart was broken every season,” Richards said. “That Game 5 was amazing, it took me back to my youth.”
Richards also heralded the Queens connections to the team through Jose Alvarado, who attended Christ the King High School in Middle Village.
“He walked the streets that we walked,” Richards said.
“This has been a long time coming,” he added. “I was out of my house at 5 a.m. this morning. I just wanted to get here early.”
Council Member Shekar Krishnan, meanwhile, described the victory and ticker tape parade as a “moment of pure joy” for New York City.
Council Member Shekar Krishnan with MD Ahnaf Hossain, who went viral for his now-famous “my Mayor Muslim” poem. Photo by Shane O’Brien.
“Everything about this team highlights what life is about. This is a team with no egos. Every time they got knocked down, they got back up, and it looks like the diversity of New York City. So, this team in every way is quintessentially New York,” Krishnan said.
Like Richards, Krishnan asserted that the Knicks victory brought “love, unity, diversity and pure happiness” at a time of division in the United States. He also recalled enjoying a “Queens moment” on the train to City Hall, spotting countless fans in Knicks and World Cup jerseys mingling on the way.
“That is quintessentially Queens. It’s quintessentially New York. And the best part was everyone was getting along,” Krishnan said. “I’m proud to be a New Yorker.”
Council Member Tiffany Cabán heralded the Knicks play-off run and NBA Championship victory as something that has brought the city together over the past two months.
“I went over to a friend’s apartment rooftop, and we watched Game 5 from there, and you could just hear all of the cheers from all over the neighborhood,” Cabán said. “It’s one of the things that can bring together every corner of the city from every background.”
Assembly Member Diana Moreno added that there was “no event” that could bring the city together like the Knicks championship victory had done.
“This is a moment for celebration,” Moreno said.
In a rousing speech before awarding each Knicks player a key to the city, Mayor Zohran Mamdani similarly remarked that the victory had been a unifying moment for New York.
“Strangers high-fived one another in the street. Subway conductors sang their announcements and bus drivers danced behind the wheel,” Mamdani said. “For as long as we live, we will remember this feeling of a city together, a city alive, a city overcome by happiness.”
Mamdani also praised the Knicks for “finding a way” in Game 4, when they were down by 29 points and analytics gave them a 0.4% chance of coming back.
“It’s in that 0.4% that the Knicks do what New Yorkers have always done when we are told something is impossible. We find a way. We win.”
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Mamdani’s address, which name-checked dozens of ex-Knicks players, was well received by almost everyone gathered at City Hall, except, it seems, for Knicks owner James Dolan, who had clashed with the mayor over a canceled watch party outside Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Dolan remained cross-armed and expressionless throughout Mamdani’s address and did not applaud at the end of the speech. He also did not pose for a photo with Mamdani after receiving a key to the city from the mayor.
Dolan was booed during his own address, which appeared to include an attack on Mamdani.
“I don’t need your vote, I don’t need to quote to you about what happened here because if you’re real Knicks fans, you know it already,” Dolan said.
But the ceremony was largely about unity, exemplified by Alicia Keys’ performance of Empire State of Mind to close out the event, with several Knicks players wholeheartedly joining in.
Alicia Keys performs at City Hall. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann