Mamdani awards key to NYC to New York Knicks following historic ticker tape parade

Mayor Mamdani also invited special guests who embody New York City’s love of basketball  

NEW YORK: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani awarded Keys to the City of New York to the New York Knicks and honored them at both a ticker-tape parade along the “Canyon of Heroes” and a City Hall ceremony. The parade, which started near Battery Park and traveled to City Hall, marked the first ticker-tape parade in Knicks’ history.

“The Knicks did not just win for New York City — they won like New York City. What is New York if not your back up against the wall, a dream that feels just out of reach, a rent payment you don’t know how you will ever make? What is New York if not 99.6 percent of the world stacked against you? And who are New Yorkers if not people who hear those odds and smile? Who look at a 0.4 percent chance of success and ask: ‘why’re you giving me a head start?’ said Mayor Mamdani. “This is our city. This is our team. For 53 years, we watched. For 53 years, we waited. Now, we’ve won.”

Mayor Mamdani also invited several guests to join the City Hall ceremony who embody the city’s deep love for basketball and the spirit that carried the Knicks to this historic victory.

These New Yorkers reflected the many communities that have waited 53 years for this moment:   

• Parks Department “blacksmiths” who repair the basketball hoops at NYC Parks. 
• 32 year-old “Good Samaritan” Balladoli Mieses who made headlines for intervening and preventing destruction during the Knicks celebrations last week. 
• Four avid young basketball players who grew up in NYCHA, including one young player who lives in the same housing complex – Pomonok Houses – that Jose Alvarado spent part of his childhood. 
• Four members and the coach of The City University of New York (CUNY) wheelchair basketball team. 
• A city worker at the Office of Technology and Innovation who was hired in 1973, the last time the Knicks won the NBA Championship – and has been working for 53 years.  
• Five older adults who have been lifelong Knicks fans. 

This championship belongs to the people of New York City. Today’s guests represent the workers, athletes, dreamers and fans who make this the greatest basketball city in the world.