diehard Knicks fan<\/a> who grew up in Rockway, Queens, Cohen explained why Brunson deserves to be immortalized in the Big Apple. <\/p>\n\u201cThis guy came to New York four years ago and the fan base had nothing to hold on to. We were the laughingstock of the NBA. People didn\u2019t believe Jalen Brunson would do anything and they thought he was overpaid. He came here, he put his head down, he put in the work, and he brought us a championship for the first time since 1973,\u201d Cohen, 32, told The Post this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone more influential and more deserving of a statue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cohen has already found an artist in Brooklyn to sculpt it and claims a landlord is offering a spot to display the finished creation. <\/p>\n
He declined to cite the project\u2019s price tag.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a stage where we have an artist and we have a private property in walking distance from Madison Square Garden,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the funds to execute on it, and we have the strong desire from the community. We\u2019ve also started communication with the Department of Buildings to make sure that we\u2019re able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cohen, a Queens native, interviewed Mayor Zohran Mamdani following the Knicks\u2019 NBA Finals win. Benji Cohen<\/p>\n
Due to the popularity of @newyorkers, Cohen was invited to interview Mamdani at Gracie Mansion last Saturday night, immediately following the Knicks\u2019 NBA Finals win. <\/p>\n
During the interview, he was sure to ask Mamdani a burning question: \u201cEveryone wants a Jalen Brunson statue. Can you make it happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani laughed off the request. \u201cI can\u2019t make that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a born and raised New Yorker who has been running a media company in New York for the past six years, I have a keen sense of the real impact that Jalen Brunson has had on New York City from an emotional, sentimental and economic standpoint,\u201d Cohen said. AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin<\/p>\n
Once Cohen posted the video of Mamdani\u2019s reluctance to his more than 2 million followers on @newyorkers, it quickly racked up over 8 million views \u2014 and comments of overwhelming support \u2014 including one from former Knick Stephon Marbury, who wrote, \u201cBuild the statue!\u201d<\/p>\n
It also caught the attention of an unidentified owner of a commercial building in walking distance from MSG, who said he\u2019d gladly host the All-Star statue, according to Cohen.<\/p>\n
That gave Cohen the impetus he needed to get the ball rolling \u2014 on his own, for now. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that the city and Madison Square Garden will step up. If they don\u2019t, we\u2019re gonna make it happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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