New York Joy

"We have to be part of something larger than ourselves, because our dreams are often bigger than our lifetimes."

-Rosalie Bertell

Yesterday tens of thousands of people lined Broadway along the Canyon of Heroes for the parade celebrating the NBA championship of the New York Knicks.

I've been following this drama since we were there, and the whole city became caught up in the most dramatic playoff run maybe in all of basketball history.

When the team arrived at City Hall, Mayor Mamdani made a speech that was better than anything I could write this morning, so I'll just repost it below:

“Over these past weeks, as the Knicks kept winning, our city has come together as one,” Mamdani told the crowd. “Neighbors invited neighbors over. Strangers high-fived one another in the street. Subway conductors sang their announcements, and bus drivers danced behind the wheel.

“So often when this city comes together, it is because we are forced to by a moment of tragedy, or adversity. What a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy. For as long as we live, we will remember this feeling of a city together. A city alive, a city overcome by happiness.

“But,” he said, “let’s not pretend that this was inevitable. If you will allow me, I want to travel back in time eight days. Game four. Nine minutes and 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Knicks are down 20. The analytics guys, the sports betting companies, the pundits who watch from far away, they do what they do. They run the numbers. They calculate the odds. They write the Knicks off. They give the Spurs a 99.6% chance of winning the game. A 99.6% chance of tying up the Series 2–2, of reclaiming the momentum with the next game in San Antonio. A 99.6% chance of silencing the Garden, of another year of watching and waiting.

“But there is one thing that the pundits just don’t get about this team, that they just don’t get about this city. It is in that .4% that we go to work. It is in that .4% that Jalen Brunson, the same guy that so many said was too small, proves that not only is he good enough, he is the new standard for greatness. It is in that .4% that OG Anunoby watches the ball float from the top of the arc and start running toward the basket, fingers reaching towards the heavens. It is in that .4% that Karl-Anthony Towns finds the strength to mourn his mother and still pull in rebound after rebound, make block after block. It is in that 0.4% that Jose Alvarado shows every kid growing up in public housing, that a son of Brooklyn and Queens can win for every one of the five boroughs. It is in that .4% that Mitch breaks his finger before game one and says, “Go get the tape.” It’s in that .4% that Josh Hart gets rebounds that break teams, that Mikal Bridges proves he was worth every single draft pick that Landry Shamet pulls up from downtown, that every one of these 18 players transforms the franchise, that Mike Brown keeps this team believing.

“Most of all, it’s in that .4% that the Knicks do what New Yorkers have always done when we are told something is impossible. We find a way. We win. Standing here, before what feels like the entire city, there is a Jalen Brunson quote I can’t stop thinking about: ‘You are allowed to think about the worst possible scenario, but you gotta go out there and do something about it.’

“Time after time, we thought about the worst possible scenario. And time after time, the Knicks went out there and did something about it. 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’ll ever make. What is New York, if not 99.6% of the world stacked against you?

“And who are New Yorkers, if not people who hear those odds and smile? Who look at a .4% chance of success and ask, ‘Why are you giving me a head start?’ This is our city. This is our team. For 53 years, we watched. For 53 years, we waited. Now we’ve won.”