New York City, hardly a city deprived of energy, is having a moment. In the past two weeks, the bars have been even more packed than usual. Several nights a week, usually at around 11pm, there has been a seemingly synchronized honking of horns. Walking around the city, it doesn’t take long to find out why.
People wearing New York Knicks jerseys are high-fiving each other, and Knicks flags fly from cars, windows and bodegas, as people celebrate the team reaching the NBA finals – and having the chance to overcome five decades of (mostly) failure. That’s not the only thing fueling the vibe in the city. In January, New York installed one of its youngest-ever mayors, a man who energized weary voters not just in the city, but across the US and around the world. And as the Knicks have conquered all before them, Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist and a noted sports enthusiast, has served as a high-profile cheerleader, goading opponents on social media and cheering the team on among the rank-and-file fans: fans who hardly need any encouragement.
“It’s beautiful for the city. If it’s a rainy day, but the Knicks are winning, then it’s a sunny day,” David Hamilton, a military veteran-turned-comedian and producer, said of the atmosphere. “It’s very hopeful, very optimistic. It’s probably cliche, but sports is that sometimes unifying distraction.
You have distraction distractions, like binge-watching, but then you have like a unifying distraction. It’s a big, joyous kind of moment.” Hamilton was at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday afternoon. There was no game: the Knicks, having defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in just four games, have earned a nice rest until the finals. But the fan store was open, and Hamilton had bought a classic jersey bearing the name Walt Frazier: the point guard who led the Knicks to their only championship wins, in 1970 and 1973.
Hamilton, 40, said he had seen the videos of Mamdani, dressed in his usual dark suit, cheering on the Knicks from the (relatively) cheap seats at the Garden. “I think there’s something about this year in New York that feels grassroots, feels authentic. [The Knicks] feel gritty in the sense that they didn’t go out and get polished stars for the team, or get all the celebrities to try to win a championship. Everybody’s low-key a bit of an underdog,” Hamilton said.