New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared his thoughts on a viral chant celebrating the New York Knicks title run on Sunday.
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MS Now‘s Jacob Soboroff played Mamdani the rhyming boast that begin’s “My mayor’s Muslim, my bagel’s Jewish.” Soboroff asked the mayor if he’d met the originator of the phrase. Mamdani admitted he hadn’t, but said “his words have really stayed with all of us.”
“Thanks to him, there are a lot of people who have been running up to me over the last few weeks just shouting at me, ‘My mayor’s Muslim!’” he said. “It’s true, I am.”
Mamdani on the viral “my mayor’s Muslim” Knicks fan: “Thanks to him, there are a lot of people who have just been running up to me over the last few weeks just shouting, ‘My Mayor’s Muslim!’ I said, ‘It’s true. I am.'” pic.twitter.com/odEAhmopaI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 14, 2026
The original version of the chant concluded with “my Christian Dior, Knicks in four,” the former line being a reference to late New York rapper Pop Smoke and the latter boasting that the Jalen Brunson-led Knicks would sweep the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs were able to win one game in this series, so the chant was altered to “even the Pope’s on our side, Knicks in five.” The Knicks secured their first NBA title in over 50 years with a win over the Spurs on Saturday.
Mamdani, who was wearing a Knicks jersey underneath his suit jacket, shared his view of the celebration throughout New York City.
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“I think it was the same thing, no matter what part of the city you were in,” he said. “There’s nothing more you can ask for… It’s honestly a beautiful thing.”
Mamdani said that the Knicks run turned the nation’s largest city into “what feels like the world’s smallest town.”
“Everyone is thinking and hoping and praying for the same thing,” he said. “And now, here we are. We’re just pinching ourselves and asking, ‘Is it real?’”
Mamdani: “Oftentimes this kind of unity comes in moments of tragedy. And to see it coming now in a moment of joy, it’s something I’ve never seen before across our city.” pic.twitter.com/hYk2O2cShW
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 14, 2026