My mayor’s muslim, My bagel’s jewish, Christian Dior, Knicks in five Bomboclat
The mayor spoke about the Knicks’ resilience during their run to the NBA title and the spirit of New York City.
Speech1: “MY FELLOW NEW YORKERS. FOR 53 LONG YEARS WE HAVE WATCHED. AND WE HAVE WAITED. WE HAVE WATCHED FROM NOSEBLEEDS AND THROUGH GRITTED TEETH ON TELEVISIONS, IN THE WINDOWS OF ELECTRONIC STORES, AND FROM PROJECTORS BALANCED ON FIRE ESCAPES. WE HAVE WATCHED ALONE IN OUR APARTMENTS, WITH OUR HEADS AND OUR HANDS, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER AT BARS WHERE THE SIGNAL FLICKERS ALONGSIDE FRIENDS AND FAMILY, WHO WE WISH MORE THAN ANYTHING COULD BE HERE TODAY SHARING THIS MOMENT.
FOR 53 LONG YEARS, WE HAVE WATCHED THE KNICKS AND WE HAVE WAITED. WE WAITED AS THE MEMORY OF WILLIS REED WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE LEG GREW FAINTER AND FAINTER. WE WAITED AS CLYDE CAME UP, CLUTCH AGAIN AND AGAIN. AS JOHN STARKS DUNKED ON JORDAN AND PATRICK EWING DUNKED ON THE PACERS. AS BERNARD KING SCORED 60. AS CHARLES OAKLEY PULLED EVERY REBOUND WITHIN REACH. AS SPIKE GOT IN, REGGIE MILLER’S FACE AS ALLAN HOUSTON PUT UP A SHOT AGAINST MIAMI THAT HUNG IN THE AIR FOR AN ETERNITY. AS LARRY JOHNSON GAVE US THE FOUR POINT PLAY HEARD AROUND NEW YORK. AS STARBURY TRADED THREES WITH KOBE AND THEN SOLD SNEAKERS EVERY KID COULD AFFORD. AS NATE ROBINSON STUFFED YAO MING. AS THE CITY CAME ALIVE. WATCHING LINSANITY AND HIS. MELO LIVED EVERY BROOKLYN DREAMS. WHEN HE CAME HOME AND MADE MSG FEEL LIKE THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.
ONCE AGAIN, WE WAITED WITHOUT EVER KNOWING IF THIS DAY WOULD COME. AND WE WAITED BECAUSE WE KNEW DEEP DOWN IN OUR SICK, SUFFERING HEARTS THAT IT WOULD. NEW YORK CITY. THIS TEAM HAS DONE IT. THE NEW YORK KNICKS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS. WE ARE HERE NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THIS TEAM THAT WILL GO DOWN IN NEW YORK CITY. LEGEND. I’M TALKING ABOUT GUYS LIKE RENALDO BALKMAN, MARDY COLLINS, RAYMOND FELTON, MARCUS CAMBY, KRISTAPS PORZINGIS, J.R. SMITH, IMAN SHUMPERT AND THE WHOLE KNICKS TAPE ERA. I’M TALKING ABOUT GUYS LIKE TONY DOUGLAS, WHO I WATCHED TIE THE SINGLE GAME FRANCHISE RECORD FOR THREES FROM THE STANDS IN 2011. I’M TALKING ABOUT AMARI WHO GOT THIS WHOLE CITY FIRED UP WHEN HE JOINED. AND I’M TALKING ABOUT JARED JEFFRIES AND LANCE THOMAS AND LANGSTON GALLOWAY PLAYERS WHO GAVE EVERYTHING EVERY GAME. EVEN WHEN A 20 WIN SEASON WAS ALL THAT WAS IN SIGHT. THIS CHAMPIONSHIP BELONGS TO THEM, TOO, BECAUSE CHAMPIONSHIPS AREN’T JUST BUILT IN ONE SEASON. IT BELONGS TO IMMANUEL QUICKLEY, RJ BARRETT, DONTE DIVINCENZO, JULIUS RANDLE AND ALSO TO A COACH WHO HELPED LAY THE GROUNDWORK, TOM THIBODEAU.
THANKS TO EACH OF THESE NEW YORKERS AND TOO MANY OTHERS TO NAME, NEW YORK CITY HAS JUST HAD TWO OF THE MOST MAGICAL MONTHS IN AS LONG AS ANY OF US CAN REMEMBER OVER THESE PAST WEEKS, AS THE KNICKS KEPT WINNING, OUR CITY HAS COME TOGETHER AS ONE. 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 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 TWO. TWO 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 POINT 4% THAT WE GO TO WORK. IT IS IN THAT POINT 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 POINT 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 POINT 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 POINT 4% THAT JOSE ALVARADO SHOWS EVERY KID. GROWING UP IN PUBLIC HOUSING AND A SON OF BROOKLYN AND QUEENS CAN WIN FOR EVERY ONE OF THE FIVE BOROUGHS. IT IS IN THAT POINT 4% THAT MITCH BREAKS HIS FINGER BEFORE GAME ONE AND SAYS, GO GET THE TAPE. IT’S IN THAT POINT 4%. THE JOSH HART GETS REBOUNDS THAT BREAK TEAMS. THE MIKAL BRIDGES PROVED 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 POINT 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 I’MA TELL YOU, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO THINK ABOUT THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO, BUT YOU GOT TO GO OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. WHEN JALEN BRUNSON TOOK THAT PAY CUT, MY FRIENDS, THAT WAS DOING 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 IS 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 POINT 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. ONE LAST TIME, NEW YORK, SAY IT WITH ME. NIXON NIXON, NIXON. SO MUCH.
Speech2: HELLO, CLASS OF 2026. I KNOW that we are at Barclays right now, but you know what I’m going to ask. Can we make some noise FOR THE NEW YORK KNICKS? >> [cheering] >> THAT IS RIGHT. NOW, LET’S HEAR IT FOR OUR GRADUATES. DO WE HAVE BROOKLYN IN the house? >> [cheering] >> DO WE HAVE THE BX IN THE HOUSE? Staten Island? Come on, Staten Island. >> [cheering] >> Manhattan? And last but not least, let’s give it up for the borough that gets the money. MAKE SOME NOISE FOR QUEENS. >> [cheering] >>
CHANCELLOR RODRIGUEZ, President Monroe, Provost Jones, Deans, faculty, staff, thank you for all you have done to help these graduates get to this moment. To the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, cousins, friends, spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, even the situationships here today. Thank you. You saw your loved ones with their textbooks cracked open at the kitchen table in the middle of the night. You saw them juggle school with work and child care and too long commutes with bills due and rent that only goes up. And you were there with a home-cooked dinner at the end of a long day with a word of encouragement when it was needed most and with the unwavering belief that they would make it to today. They are here in no small part thanks to you. Please give yourself a round of applause. >> [cheering] >>
Now, for the past few weeks all across the country commencement speakers like me have stood in borrowed robes at lecterns like this one, struggled with their hats like I am, and delivered hard-won pieces of advice to the class of 2026. Some of these speeches are funnier than others. People quote Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Jefferson and Thomas the Tank Engine. They fix their hat one more time. And if there’s one thing these speeches share, it’s the guidance they offer to a group of graduates who at this point, let’s be honest, are pretty ready to go home. The wisdom usually plays on a certain theme. Take risks. Dig deeper. Dream bigger. Sometimes the suggestion is a little more practical. Wear sunscreen. Never trust a Scorpio. Don’t run for office without first scrubbing the internet of all evidence of your short-lived rap career. Or do. What can I say? Once Mr. Cardamom, always Mr. Cardamom.
After dispensing their advice, these well-meaning commencement speakers will explain why it’s worth taking. It typically boils down to this. Breaking off from the straight and narrow, zigging and zagging, detouring off the beaten path, that’s where the fun, the growth, the real life is. A lot of graduates need to hear this. But not the BMCC class of 2026. Real life is not something you need to seek out. Because try telling Amrita Gina to dream bigger. She arrived in New York from Guyana at age 19. She was always a good student, but she postponed college after having her first child. Years later she decided to to her degree despite the challenges that would deter less determined people. Family, work, long commutes. Today, Amrita is graduating with her degree in accounting with plans to one day open her own firm. >> [cheering] >> Or try telling Vireak Hom to go the road less traveled. He grew up as an orphan in Cambodia, moving from home to home. His first time on a plane was to come to New York City to attend BMCC. Today, Vireak is graduating with a degree in mathematics. >> [cheering and applause] >> Or try telling Cynthia Kukbazi to dig deeper. She enrolled at BMCC after giving birth to her third child. Monday through Friday, she commuted to the lower tip of Manhattan from the Bronx after changing diapers, making breakfast, and dropping her kids off at school. Her days were packed, but she found a groove, setting her alarm for 3:00 a.m. to study before her kids woke up. Today, Cynthia graduates with a degree in respiratory therapy. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Today’s graduating class is made up of more than 2,000 New Yorkers. That is 2,000 people whose paths have zigged and zagged, but still led right here to this moment. Together, you represent more than 110 countries and speak 28 languages. More than half of today’s graduates are the first in their family to go beyond a high school diploma. And 14 of 14% of this graduating class attended school while caring for their children. >> [cheering] >>
Every one of today’s graduates has a story as full of setbacks and triumphs as the three that I’ve shared. But, here is the thing. No matter how many times it would have been easier to quit, to stay home, to say, “It’s all too much.” You still showed up. Each of you made the choice to pursue your education. Not because it was expected of you, not because it was the next logical step, but because you expected it of yourself. You already have the drive that commencement speakers spend entire speeches encouraging graduates to go out into the world to find. You wouldn’t be here today if you didn’t. Each of you walked a road that was anything but traditional. Leaving the beaten path is hard. But, if you will allow me to be corny for a second, it also has the best views. And I know a thing or two about a non-traditional path. I’m Indian. I’m also African. I’m also American. I’m Muslim with Hindu family. I’m >> [cheering] >> I’m a Drake fan and I can still recognize that Not Like Us is a banger. >> [cheering] >> We exist. Representation matters. I ran for mayor when a lot of people told me I shouldn’t. They told me I wasn’t the right age. I didn’t know the right people. I didn’t have the right credentials. I didn’t know how to wear this hat. You all might know something about that, too. Some people say that when I entered the race, I was polling at 1%. It’s not quite true. When I entered the race, they weren’t even polling my name. My opponents couldn’t say my name right. Even some people supporting me couldn’t say my name right.
But, I did it because like each of you, I expected something of myself. With the help of many, many New Yorkers who knocked doors in the pouring rain and the scorching heat, we built a campaign on the belief that a dignified life shouldn’t be so far out of reach in the city that we love. Today, I have the immense honor of standing before you as your mayor. >> [cheering] [applause] >> It is a nice story, but it doesn’t capture the fullness of the anxiety, the doubt, the crushing failures that dotted the way. So, instead of boring you with the traditional graduation advice today, I want to offer you something simpler and more straightforward. Recognition. Because while this is a day worthy of pomp and circumstance, celebration, and triumph, I know there were days, months, frankly, even years when your dreams felt impossibly out of reach. Now, I am wary of drawing too straight a line from my experience to yours. I went to college in Maine at a school where ultimate frisbee is a lifestyle.
I’ve been able to take risks in my life because I knew that even when I failed or I fell, I’d still have a home to return to, a bed to sleep in, a safety net to catch me, which is more than many New Yorkers can say. But like every single one of the more than 8 million people who call our city home, like every single one of you, I have chased a dream. And like every one of you, there have been moments in that chase where I have felt down and out. A few years before I ran for state assembly, I was living at home with my parents, unsure what to do with myself after my last song that I released couldn’t break a thousand streams on SoundCloud. It seemed the more music I made, the fewer people wanted to listen. But I wasn’t ready to give up on my music dream just yet. To paraphrase phrase Schoolboy Q, I was just sitting in the studio. Now, studio time, as some of you may know, was and is not cheap. So, I took a job tutoring. One of my students went to a private school in the Bronx. To get there, I took the same one train to transfer to the same BX10 bus that I rode to get to Bronx Science a decade earlier as a student. Except the bus that I used to ride south, I now rode north.
In almost every way, I felt like I was going backwards. 10 years out from high school, I was still writing high school papers, except this time they weren’t even for me. Every night as I lay down in that same bedroom that I’d grown up in, I’d fall asleep looking at the tower of CDs I’d accumulated in my teenage years. Common, Lupe Fiasco, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, all rappers who spoke of being down but getting back up anyway. When I was in middle school, I loved going to the Tower Records on 66th Street in Broadway in Manhattan. I’d only been in New York City for a few years after arriving from Uganda. And I liked the energy of the guys who were hustling bootleg CDs out front. I bought my first ever CD from them, and yes, it was Eiffel 65. For those of you who don’t know, they sang the song Blue (Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di). At that time, my music taste was still very much developing. I listened to some of The Offspring’s Pretty Fly for a White Guy. Then I graduated to The Blueprint, the clean version. Then I found my anthems on Get Rich or Die Tryin’, an album I listened to more times back to front than I can count. I bought a jog-proof Walkman. Does anyone here know what a jog-proof Walkman is? Maybe Maybe up in the crowd. And threw it on the ground just so the kids knew it wouldn’t skip during Many Men. This used to be a concern that we had.
I still remember walking down the street with 50 Cent blasting in my ears, really feeling myself. And the lyrics were, “And if they hate, then let them hate and watch the money pile up.” That line still hits, and I know it hits for a few who are here on the stage, a few who are here in the crowd, because the ambition of our city that it captures in those words, it speaks to the ambition that is in this room right now. It captures the can’t tell me nothing, don’t try to stop me energy of a New Yorker with something to prove. In my lowest moments, that energy fueled me to get up and get on with my day, to take the next step. Now, each of you know something about that, too, about what it means to be a New Yorker. Not just the swagger and the triumph and the train crossing the bridge at sunset. It’s trying to make rent and afford groceries. It’s the days when that same train is running late or caught in the tunnel. It’s the resilience this city demands of each of us.
Being a New Yorker means showing up anyway, day after day, week after week, year after year. So, today as we celebrate your highs, I want to also give recognition to your lows. This is a room full of people who showed up, and that is not automatic. That is not a given, but that is, to quote a man who hates my tax policies, how the money piles up. That hunger that every single graduate here knows, that drive that lives deep in your belly, to go after your dream even when everything is standing in your way, that is New York City. You are New York City. In a traditional commencement speech, this is the part where I would tell you, “Welcome to the beginning of the rest of your lives.” But I can’t do that. You’ve all been living the rest of your lives for a long time. And it is such an honor to be here before you as the mayor of our city delivering the first-ever commencement speech that I have in my time in that position. >>
[cheering] >> So, to the Borough of Manhattan Community College Class of 2026, what I will say instead is thank you. You are the beating heart of the greatest city in the world. Thank you for being the New Yorker that some middle school age kid or some guy feeling like he’s on a bus going backwards can see and think maybe I can make it here, too. Congratulations to the BMCC class of 2026. You made it! >> [cheering] [applause] [music]