

According to Stereogum.com, since Saturday night, the whole of New York City has been enjoying the Knicks’ first NBA championship since 1973. People were out in the streets all night after the team’s series-clinching win in San Antonio and many of them were belting out Alicia Keys’ chorus to Jay-Z’s “Empire State Of Mind.” Keys performed the ditty on Saturday night at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the documentary Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell’s Kitchen had a well-timed premiere last week.
After the Knicks (and an entourage including celebrity superfans Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Jon Stewart) made their way from Battery Park up Broadway, the parade concluded with a ceremony at City Hall. There, joined by her son Egypt, Keys took the stage after some technical difficulties to sing the song that has seemingly eclipsed Frank Sinatra’s theme from New York, New York to become the unofficial NYC anthem. Owner Jim Dolan, coach Mike Brown, and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson all spoke, as did Mayor Zohran Mamdani. ABC/ESPN play-by-play guy Mike Breen served as master of ceremonies, and Avery Wilson sang a supercharged gospel-inflected “Star Spangled-Banner.”
