Mamdani embraces – New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani laughed off a viral Knicks fan chant that mixes religion and pride, saying he hasn’t met its originator but that the words have stuck with people across the city. The remarks came days after the Knicks won their first NBA tit
When New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani walked through the city with a Knicks jersey tucked under his suit jacket, he didn’t just talk about the championship he had helped celebrate. He talked about the chant that followed it—one that ended up ringing in his own day-to-day life.
On Sunday, Mamdani reacted to a viral “My mayor’s Muslim” chant tied to the Knicks’ run to the NBA title. He was shown the rhyming boast that begins with “My mayor’s Muslim, my bagel’s Jewish,” and asked whether he’d met the person who started it.
“I think it was the same thing, no matter what part of the city you were in,” Mamdani said, describing how the celebration seemed to spread everywhere. When he was asked about the originator, he admitted he hadn’t met him, but said “his words have really stayed with all of us.”
Mamdani said the response has been immediate and persistent. “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. Then he repeated the moment he’s become used to: “It’s true, I am.”
The chant itself started as a longer version. The original line ended with “my Christian Dior. Knicks in four. ” with “Christian Dior” referencing late New York rapper Pop Smoke and “Knicks in four” betting on a sweep led by Jalen Brunson over the San Antonio Spurs. But as the series progressed—after the Spurs were able to win one game—the chant was altered to “even the Pope’s on our side. Knicks in five.”.
By the time the Knicks finished the job, the mood had shifted from prediction to payoff. The Knicks secured their first NBA title in over 50 years with a win over the Spurs on Saturday.
Mamdani said the impact of that run was bigger than sports and bigger than any single neighborhood. He told viewers that the Knicks’ championship chase turned “the nation’s largest city into what feels like the world’s smallest town.” He described a collective energy that kept repeating itself in the streets: “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?’”.
He also contrasted the kind of unity people often associate with hard moments with what he saw during the joyful ones. “Oftentimes this kind of unity comes in moments of tragedy,” Mamdani said. “And to see it coming now in a moment of joy, it’s something I’ve never seen before across our city.”
Across those comments, the chant didn’t come across as background noise. It became a kind of shorthand for the feeling he said he heard over and over—from fans who stopped him in public, to a city that seemed, for a few days at least, to move as one.
Zohran Mamdani New York City mayor Knicks NBA title San Antonio Spurs Jalen Brunson viral chant My mayor's Muslim Pop Smoke Pop Smoke Christian Dior Pope's on our side New York politics