After a historic ticker-tape parade, the New York Knicks’ championship celebration moved to City Hall on Thursday, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented the NBA champions with keys to the city and praised generations of fans who waited more than five decades for another title.
Regulars from Madison Square Garden’s celebrity row — including Spike Lee, Mariska Hargitay and Timothée Chalamet — were among those who scored one of the hottest tickets in town, joining invited guests and everyday New Yorkers on the steps of City Hall.
The invited crowd also reflected the city’s wider basketball community, from Parks Department workers who repair public hoops to CUNY wheelchair basketball players, young NYCHA athletes, lifelong older Knicks fans, and a city technology worker hired in 1973, the last time the team won a title. Balladoli Mieses, a 32-year-old Good Samaritan credited with helping prevent destruction during last week’s Knicks celebrations, was also among the guests.
Mamdani presented keys to members of the organization, including owner James Dolan, team president Leon Rose, head coach Mike Brown, Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and the championship roster.
Mamdani previewed the keys during a “Good Morning America” appearance earlier Thursday, saying they were the first handed out by his administration. He credited Azra Khalfan, designer Aneesh Bhoopathy and typographer Tobias Frere-Jones with work on the key. Asked whether the city had placed the order months earlier, Mamdani said, “You got to plan, you got to be ready. As a fan, you never want to talk about it, but as the mayor, you got to be ready.” The keys also reflected the mayor’s branding, as The City Reporter noted
Mamdani: ‘The Knicks won like New York City’
At the podium, Mamdani leaned into the long history of Knicks fandom, recalling fans who watched the team through decades of near misses, false starts and brief bursts of hope.
“For 53 long years we have watched, and we have waited,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani said the Knicks’ run had brought the city together in a way that was unusually joyful, rather than born from crisis.
“What a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy,” he said.
The mayor name-checked generations of Knicks figures, from Willis Reed and Walt “Clyde” Frazier to Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Jeremy Lin and Carmelo Anthony. He also credited former Knicks and former head coach Tom Thibodeau, saying the championship belonged in part to those who helped build toward it.
Mamdani also returned to Game 4 of the Finals, when the Knicks mounted a late comeback at Madison Square Garden, which he said had been written off by analysts and oddsmakers.
“It is in that 0.4% that we go to work,” Mamdani said.
“The Knicks did not just win for New York City,” he added. “They won like New York City.”
Other elected officials kept the tone lighter. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams joked that people owed apologies to Brown and Brunson, while City Comptroller Mark Levine and City Council Speaker Julie Menin praised the team for bringing New Yorkers together.
Chilly reception for Dolan
Dolan, long a polarizing figure among fans, was booed by some in the crowd as he came to the podium after Mamdani’s speech.
He kept his remarks brief and acknowledged the reception with a political joke.
“Look, I don’t need your vote,” Dolan said.
Dolan also declined to give a lengthy retelling of the championship run.
“If you’re real Knicks fans, you know it already,” he said, in an apparent swipe at Mamdani after his speech had recounted decades of Knicks history.
He thanked fans for supporting the team and said the organization would keep working to bring them “even better basketball,” while adding that it was hard to imagine topping this season.
The chilly moment continued during the key presentation, when Dolan did not pose with Mamdani for a photo after receiving his key. During the NBA Finals, the two clashed over crowd-size limits at watch parties outside Madison Square Garden for Game 4.
Knicks fans, coaches, front office express their gratitude
Rose, meanwhile, thanked Dolan for bringing him into the organization six years ago, then credited the players, coaches, front office and families behind the title run. He told fans the Knicks’ support in every arena made road games feel like home.
Brown called the championship a citywide achievement and said the team’s season had been built on sacrifice, connection and belief.
“This championship is about you guys,” Brown told the crowd. “This is New York City’s championship.”
Brunson, the team captain and Finals MVP, used his remarks to thank the organization, his teammates, coaches, staff, family and fans.
“First and foremost, I want to say thank you to Jim Dolan and the front office for believing the kid no one else would,” Brunson said. “Thank you to my teammates for giving me confidence every single day. The belief we had in each other made this possible.”
Then he paused on the size of the moment.
“Damn, we really did it, dawg,” Brunson said. “Somehow, some way, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done.”
Brunson also thanked the team’s coaching staff, medical staff and others who worked behind the scenes during the championship run. He reserved his longest thanks for his family and inner circle, saying they kept him grounded throughout the season.
“Without them, their sacrifice and everything wouldn’t be possible,” Brunson said. “My inner circle, they keep me humble every single day. They don’t let me get off track for nothing.”
He also nodded to Knicks fans’ reputation for blunt assessments.
“Most importantly, thank you to the fans,” Brunson said. “Not going to lie, though, y’all are some pretty hard critics, but we appreciate it.”
Brunson closed with a message for those who doubted the Knicks during their run.
“There’s a lot of people that have a lot of negative stuff to say. There’s a lot of people who have a lot of opinions,” Brunson said. “But when you prove them wrong, you don’t have to say s#!t to them.”
There was another awkward detail on display at City Hall: Dillon Jones was listed on a roster banner with No. 33, the retired number of Patrick Ewing (Jones’ number is actually 1). Ewing, one of the franchise’s defining figures, had been among the Knicks alumni celebrated earlier in the day.
By the end, Alicia Keys took to the stage to wrap up the proceedings with a performance that included “Empire State of Mind.”
“We’ve been waiting over 50 years for this moment,” Keys told the crowd. “Congrats, New York City. I love you.”
The Knicks left City Hall with keys in hand — and, judging by the crowd, no shortage of the city’s affection.
