{"id":271311,"date":"2026-06-18T21:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271311\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T21:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:36:14","slug":"queens-shows-up-for-knicks-key-to-the-city-ceremony-at-city-hall-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271311\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens shows up for Knicks Key to the City ceremony at City Hall \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queens elected officials and Knicks<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Fans and elected officials alike heralded the Knicks\u2019 first NBA Championship in 53 years as a unifying force that brought neighbors and strangers together, and describing Thursday\u2019s parade as a day that was 53 years in the making.<\/p>\n

Many Queens-based Knicks fans woke before the break of dawn to land a spot at City Hall\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"KarlKarl Anthony Towns celebrates at City Hall. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

All fans were agreed, however. It was worth it.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is history in the making,\u201d he said. \u201cI never thought I was going to see this\u2026 I was about to freaking cry (when they won last Saturday).\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Steve Rowan, a firefighter based at Elmhurst\u2019s Ladder 287, said the Championship win \u201cmeans everything\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some runs in between, but we got to watch and it was great,\u201d Rowan said. \u201cIt was very tough\u2026 but we made the best of it.\u201d
\n\"SteveSteve Rowan (right) outside City Hall. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.\n<\/p>\n

Raymond Calderon and Ismael De La Cruz, who are originally from Ridgewood<\/a> but have since moved to Florida, flew into New York City especially for Thursday\u2019s celebrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as the Knicks won, we booked our flights within minutes,\u201d Calderon said. \u201cWe had to come. We couldn\u2019t miss it. I\u2019m not saying this is once-in-a-lifetime because we\u2019re definitely going to repeat, but it was so important to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RaymondRaymond Calderon and Ismael De La Cruz outside City Hall. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

Watching on from outside the city, Calderon said he was moved by how the victory united New Yorkers of all backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing to see the joy that people have, the joy that this team brings to us,\u201d Calderon added. \u201cNo other city in the world deserves it more than New York.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Long Island City\u2019s 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\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n

\"JesseJesse Wu (left) snagged tickets to Thursday\u2019s ceremony Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got an email from the Mayor\u2019s office and I didn\u2019t think it was real. I\u2019m sitting here now and it still doesn\u2019t feel real,\u201d Wu said.\n<\/p>\n

Wu, who watched Game 5 at a friend\u2019s apartment in Astoria, said he took time off work to come to Thursday\u2019s parade \u2013 with encouragement from his boss.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI took time off and my manager told me I should do it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Queens elected officials were equally giddy with excitement on Thursday, with many swapping their usually formal attire for Knicks merchandise.\n<\/p>\n

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards hailed the Championship victory as a force of unity during a time of \u201cstark division,\u201d adding that Thursday was a \u201cspecial day\u201d for New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

\"QueensQueens Borough President Donovan Richards and State Senator Zellmor Myrie attend the Knicks Championship celebration at City Hall. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart was broken every season,\u201d Richards said. \u201cThat Game 5 was amazing, it took me back to my youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richards also heralded the Queens connections to the team through Jose Alvarado, who attended Christ the King High School in Middle Village.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe walked the streets that we walked,\u201d Richards said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a long time coming,\u201d he added. \u201cI was out of my house at 5 a.m. this morning. I just wanted to get here early.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Council Member Shekar Krishnan, meanwhile, described the victory and ticker tape parade as a \u201cmoment of pure joy\u201d for New York City.
\n\"CouncilCouncil Member Shekar Krishnan with MD Ahnaf Hossain, who went viral for his now-famous \u201cmy Mayor Muslim\u201d poem. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything 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,\u201d Krishnan said.<\/p>\n

Like Richards, Krishnan asserted that the Knicks victory brought \u201clove, unity, diversity and pure happiness\u201d at a time of division in the United States. He also recalled enjoying a \u201cQueens moment\u201d on the train to City Hall, spotting countless fans in Knicks and World Cup jerseys mingling on the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is quintessentially Queens. It\u2019s quintessentially New York. And the best part was everyone was getting along,\u201d Krishnan said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to be a New Yorker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n heralded the Knicks play-off run and NBA Championship victory as something that has brought the city together over the past two months.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI went over to a friend\u2019s apartment rooftop, and we watched Game 5 from there, and you could just hear all of the cheers from all over the neighborhood,\u201d Cab\u00e1n said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the things that can bring together every corner of the city from every background.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assembly Member Diana Moreno added that there was \u201cno event\u201d that could bring the city together like the Knicks championship victory had done.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a moment for celebration,\u201d Moreno said.\n<\/p>\n

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.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cStrangers high-fived one another in the street. Subway conductors sang their announcements and bus drivers danced behind the wheel,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cFor as long as we live, we will remember this feeling of a city together, a city alive, a city overcome by happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani also praised the Knicks for \u201cfinding a way\u201d in Game 4, when they were down by 29 points and analytics gave them a 0.4% chance of coming back.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d
\n\"PhotoPhoto by Gabriele Holtermann\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Dolan remained cross-armed and expressionless throughout Mamdani\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Dolan was booed during his own address, which appeared to include an attack on Mamdani.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need your vote, I don\u2019t need to quote to you about what happened here because if you\u2019re real Knicks fans, you know it already,\u201d Dolan said.\n<\/p>\n

But the ceremony was largely about unity, exemplified by Alicia Keys\u2019 performance of\u00a0Empire State of Mind\u00a0to close out the event, with several Knicks players wholeheartedly joining in.<\/p>\n

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