Mayor Mamdani on the Knicks' Victory

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**Brian Lehrer** (0:40)
It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. And maybe a New York Magazine headline that came out Friday, nails the moment New York City is in right now, as well as anything could. The headline was, New York is New Yorking like it has never New York before. And think about it, if you're not personally experiencing it, World Cup, Puerto Rican Day Parade, early voting in the primary, Pride Month events, and the next, the next, the next, the next, the next, the next, parade to come on Thursday. We'll give former mayor Bill de Blasio the first word on the next became champions again after 53 years. Then we'll hear from the current mayor and from some of you. De Blasio said this on SNY last year about parades up the Canyon of Heroes.

**Bill de Blasio** (1:26)
The one that would be astounding will be the Knicks. There's something about the Knicks and Madison Square Garden, and the times they came so close, it's kind of like a perfect metaphor for New York City's grit and resilience and the way we never give up. I think the day the Knicks finally win, I think it's going to be one of the most emotional parades we'll ever see in the Canyon of Heroes.

**Brian Lehrer** (1:46)
Former mayor Bill De Blasio last year in the SNY documentary Canyon of Heroes. So that's the first word. Now the second with his honors, Zohran Mamdani, including to reflect a little as a sports fan on why these things can mean so much.
Mr. Mayor, thanks for a few minutes this morning, as I know you were among those not getting much sleep on Saturday night. Welcome back to WNYC.

**Zohran Mamdani** (2:08)
Thank you so much for having me, Brian. It's a pleasure to be back on.

**Brian Lehrer** (2:11)
So Saturday night to me was New Year's Eve on steroids. I have honestly never seen as many New Yorkers gather in big outdoor groups to watch something not taking place in person. Why do you think this was such a galvanizing moment for New Yorkers?

**Zohran Mamdani** (2:26)
Well, New Year's Eve happens every year and we've been waiting 53 years for this. I can tell you I've reached the age where now sometimes I do sleep through New Year's Eve. Although I think that will probably end as the mayor. And yet for this, I went to bed at 3.45 in the morning and I think that that was probably on the earlier side for many New Yorkers because it has been year after year of believing that it could in fact be the year, year after year of heartbreaks and near misses. And then to see this team over the course of this finals run, it has been the fulfillment of all of that hope and all at once, and in many ways a reflection of what the city is at its best.
And I think many of us are still, we're still living off of the high of Saturday night.

**Brian Lehrer** (3:10)
Maybe you just answered my next question, but you've announced the ticker tape parade for Thursday.
Former Mayor de Blasio said on SNY last year, we played the clip, that the day the Knicks win, I think it'll be one of the most emotional parades we'll ever see in the Canyon of Heroes. Do you think that'll be the case? And if so, why?

**Zohran Mamdani** (3:30)
I think it will. I think it will be an outpouring of emotion that so many of us have kept inside for so many years. You know, there were New Yorkers who ran out into the streets and just started crying after the victory on Saturday night.
And there are many of us for whom a Knicks championship was something that we weren't even alive to see. The last time we were even this close, just in the finals, was in 1999, and it was against the same team. And then they beat us 4-1, this time we beat them 4-1. And there's a beautiful full circle part of it, in that Rick Brunson was a member of that Knicks team, and now his son, Jalen Brunson, is the captain of this Knicks team. And with a very different result, I think it will mean the world to New Yorkers, as it already has.