Mayor Zohran Mamdani got to share in the Knicks\u2019 glory Thursday \u2014 riding atop a float in the parade, handing out keys to the city and posing for photos with players.<\/p>\n
In a speech, he took a trip through Knicks history, ticking off the names of former players and iconic moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs John Starks dunked on Jordan, and Patrick Ewing dunked on the Pacers,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
Later, running through a list of notable players through the decades, he said: \u201cI\u2019m talking about guys like Renaldo Balkman, Marty Collins, Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby, Kristaps Porzingis, J.R. Smith.\u201d<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani rode atop a float in Thursday\u2019s parade, handed out keys to the city and made a speech heavy on Knicks history
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Elected and city officials occupied half the stage, with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Comptroller Mark Levine and City Council Speaker Jule Menin delivering remarks
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Gov. Kathy Hochul rode on a float and sat onstage during the ceremony but passed on a speaking role<\/p>\n
The day was about the Knicks, though elected and city officials occupied half the stage and several delivered speeches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are officially going to change the New York City motto to \u2018Knicks in Five,\u2019\u201d City Council Speaker Julie Menin said.<\/p>\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul was an exception to the rule. She sat onstage but passed on a speaking role.<\/p>\n
State Attorney General Letitia James didn\u2019t address the crowd, but in an interview with NY1, she made her exuberance clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the last couple of weeks, we have not discussed politics. We\u2019ve not discussed that individual in Washington, D.C.,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve come together. Strangers are hugging me, people are kissing me, babies are happy. It\u2019s really all about the Knicks. You brought us together. We\u2019ve got to keep this going. The economy is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed this so much,\u201d Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said. \u201cSo I\u2019m just happy to be here. I\u2019m here as a fan. I\u2019m not here as the DA. I\u2019m here as a fan. I\u2019m here as a New Yorker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark, a 33-year season-ticket holder, was among the more diehard elected officials in attendance. But everyone had their own Knicks story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I really got into it in college,\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cI had a boyfriend [who] was like a really big Knicks fan, and that got me into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody has the right to celebrate this championship, but don\u2019t act like you\u2019ve earned it like the rest of us have. I\u2019ve been going to Knicks games in the Isiah Thomas era. I\u2019ve seen some terrible, terrible basketball,” state Assembly Member Jordan Wright said.<\/p>\n
The one recurring theme was how the team\u2019s playoff run had forged community.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s saying hello. Everybody\u2019s being polite. Let\u2019s keep it going,\u201d Public Advocate Jumaane Williams told the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bigger than politics,\u201d Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said in an interview. \u201cWhether you\u2019re Republican, Democrat, whether you\u2019re on Long Island or in Queens, whether you\u2019re a newcomer to New York City, we share in this glory and this victory all together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani got to share in the Knicks\u2019 glory Thursday \u2014 riding atop a float in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[109,25,3284,9,24,12,63,87,134,136,135,27,200],"class_list":["post-271524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-bobby-cuza","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-politics","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}