Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is trying to keep the good times rolling from the New York Knicks’ NBA championship win earlier this month — with a Monday announcement that it is temporarily co-naming 17 Manhattan streets after each one of the squad’s players.
Mamdani, who has been basking in the team’s victory over the past couple of weeks, said in a statement that the championship win is “bigger than basketball” and represents how the city can come together and overcome long odds.
“This championship belongs to every fan who packed our parks and plazas and every neighbor who high-fived a stranger after another impossible comeback,” Mamdani said in a statement. “These street signs are a tribute to the players who delivered the championship generations of fans waited their whole lives to see and the city that stood behind them every step of the way. Long after the confetti is gone, New Yorkers will be able to walk these streets and remember the team that brought our city so much joy. Knicks in five.”
The co-namings will be in place for four weeks.
Across the games the Knicks won, the team reversed double-digit deficits in the second half to overcome the Spurs.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns revel in the confetti after winning the NBA Championship.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Mamdani’s Department of Transportation (DOT) is affixing signs in the Knicks’ royal blue and orange colors with each player’s name and jersey number to street poles up-and-down Manhattan’s Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
For instance, Sixth Avenue and West 3 rd Street is being co-named for starting shooting guard Josh Hart, who wears number three, and Seventh Avenue South and West 11th Street is being co-named for team captain and point guard Jalen Brunson, who sports number 11.
Mamdani’s office said that together, the signs create a “championship route” through the heart of Manhattan.
The Knicks won their first title in 53 years earlier this month, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 5-1, part of the team’s 16-3 postseason run. Their historic run saw millions of New Yorkers take to the streets to celebrate the Knicks across the five finals games and their June 18 ticker-tape parade down Lower Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes.
Revelers packed City Hall Park following the parade to witness Mamdani give the team the key to the city.
DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn, in a statement, said the co-namings are “returning the favor” to the team that brought New Yorkers out in droves to fill the city’s streets and public spaces.
“With each postseason win, more and more New Yorkers came together in the streets, on sidewalks and in plazas to watch the Knicks play and celebrate their improbable comebacks,” Flynn said. “New Yorkers will never forget this historic championship run or the players that brought them together for the most joyful 10 weeks we’ve ever experienced.”