To the Editor:<\/p>\n
Re \u201cPinch Yourselves, Knicks Fans: Next Year Is Now; First Title Since 1973 Transforms a Hardened City Into a Puddle of Joy<\/a>\u201d (front page, June 15):<\/p>\n Why do the Knicks keep making me cry happy tears?<\/p>\n Any franchise that double-sweeps its way to the N.B.A. finals is sure to garner tremendous support from hometown fans. Something more has been happening in New York. One team, five men at a time, has caused a city of more than eight million people to freeze and roar in unison.<\/p>\n This is not just about basketball. At a time when inequality and technology have damaged New Yorkers\u2019 sense of community, the Knicks have given us an opportunity to celebrate the common threads that still connect us.<\/p>\n As the countless watch parties, impossibly full bars and exuberant crowds spilling into our streets show, the city has enthusiastically seized that opportunity. All New Yorkers, from those born here to the freshest transplants, have needed this atmosphere of togetherness and belonging.<\/p>\n Thank you, New York Knicks. Your hard-won victories have allowed each of us to feel, if only for a moment, exactly what Frank Sinatra meant as we sing, \u201cStart spreading the news.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephen Mageras To the Editor:<\/p>\n As a 10-year-old in 1976, I watched heartbroken as the Boston Celtics felled my Phoenix Suns in the Suns\u2019 first trip to the N.B.A. finals. I quickly recovered, with the hope that there is always next year, and besides, joy and hope were everywhere in that celebratory bicentennial summer.<\/p>\n I\u2019m still waiting for the Suns, but the Knicks\u2019 joy and spirit have done much to assuage this troubled summer of the semiquincentennial. Watching them has touched my 10-year-old heart.<\/p>\n Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New York<\/p>\n