Queens celebrates long-awaited Knicks championship

Queens locals joined their fellow New Yorkers to celebrate the Knicks’ championship at City Hall on Thursday.  Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

Queens locals joined the millions of New Yorkers who lined the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan to celebrate the 2026 NBA champion New York Knicks on Thursday.

Residents of the World’s Borough trekked from Woodside, Queens Village and neighborhoods throughout Queens to honor the Knicks and their historic championship, the franchise’s first trophy in more than half a century.

The Mahmood brothers of Queens Village woke up early on Thursday to make sure they got a spot outside of City Hall to watch the festivities.

They had been waiting for hours long before the procession kicked off in lower Manhattan. But it was worth the wait, they said.

“It means everything,” Daniel Mahmood said. “We saw the Knicks lose when we were five years old at Madison Square Garden. We both saw Carmelo [Anthony] when we were teenagers. We had no hope, but we kept supporting them.”

“I've waited my whole life to see this,” added his brother, Mahir. “If I got to stand five hours outside in the rain or in the cold, I'll stand here because they gave me something I've been waiting for my whole life.”

Both said they cried after the buzzer rang at the end of Game 5, as soon as commentator Mike Breen – who also MC’d Thursday’s ceremony – gave them permission to.

“This shows me that everything was worth it, that the pain was worth it,” Daniel Mahmood said. “All those nights crying in my bedroom when I was a kid, it was worth it.”

The Mahmood brothers of Queens Village woke up early to get to Manhattan to watch the Knicks parade.  Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

Some traveled to the parade from even further locales, like Raymond Calderon and Ismael Delacruz, who were born and raised in Ridgewood but flew from their current home in Florida to see the championship parade in person.

“As soon as we won, we booked the tickets,” Delacruz said.

Growing up in Ridgewood, the two witnessed years of Knicks disappointments.

“It’s been a lot of suffering, but, the honest truth, the suffering has definitely paid off,” said Calderon. “It was definitely worth it for all the Knick fans in Queens.”

“Knicks in five, baby,” he added.

Ridgewood born-Ismael Delacruz and Raymond Calderon, who flew from their current home in Florida to see the Knicks parade in person.  Eagle file by Ryan Schwach

Since the Knicks’ Game 5 win over the Spurs that ended the 53-year title drought, there has been a noticeably positive vibe in the streets of Queens, and New York City at large.

The Knicks became a unifying force, bringing New Yorkers together in a way few have experienced.

“The Knicks unite us all,” said Frank Fennelly, a Queens local who works as a firefighter in Elmhurst. “It's amazing. Everybody's here, everybody's having a great time.”

Fennelly remembers watching the 1999 Knicks make their last run to the championship as a child in Queens.

“My first ever sports memory is the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals,” he said. “First time I ever remember watching sports with my dad…It comes full circle.”

Queens’ elected officials celebrated at City Hall as well.

“As a fan for so long, to watch this team, the perseverance, the grit, just overcoming all the challenges of the season, they're what we are as New Yorkers, they represent the best of us,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who was decked out in Knicks merch. “This has been a long time coming.”

Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, who is known for her avid fandom of New York’s other basketball team, the New York Liberty, said she enjoyed seeing the city come together around a diverse set of superstars.

Queens City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán celebrates the Knicks championship victory.  Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

“The beauty of bringing the entire city together around the team, and to have the superstars of the team be immigrants in this moment,” she said. “We're bringing together the Caribbean, we got that Puerto Rican, Dominican love, it's just good vibes.”

The Knicks’ backup point guard Jose Alvarado is Puerto Rican and attended middle school and high school in Queens, growing up playing basketball at the Pomonok NYCHA Houses in the World’s Borough.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Knicks event without the celebrity superfans, which on Thursday included actor John Turturro, who spent much of his childhood in Southeast Queens.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani gives a key to the city to Queens-connected Knick Jose Alvarado. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

Turturro’s Hollis bedroom was laden with posters of Walt Frazier and Willis Reed. He called the City Hall celebration “surreal.”

“We've invested so much, and it's a great thing for the city,” he said.

Another former Queens resident, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, handed keys to the city to captain Jalen Brunson, Game 4 hero OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and the rest of the Knicks players, management and front office on Thursday.

“This is our city, this is our team,” said Mamdani. “For 53 years we watched, for 53 years we waited. Now we've won.”