New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani may be a Knicks fan, but apparently even the mayor has his limits when it comes to paying Madison Square Garden prices.
With the Knicks preparing to raise their championship banner on October 20, Mamdani was asked by NBC New York whether he planned to attend the highly anticipated season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers.
His response was very New York.
“Brother, I do not have $2,000 ready for that ticket,” Mamdani said.
When asked about cheaper seats, Mamdani joked about the possibility of sitting in the nosebleeds. He also crossed his fingers when asked whether the Knicks could repeat as NBA champions, adding that he hoped they could do it “at cheaper ticket prices.”
The comments arrive at an awkward moment for the New York Knicks and their ticket prices. The team announced September 17 that it was pausing individual ticket sales after acknowledging a mistake in its initial pricing.
The Knicks said they would roll prices back to last season’s levels, plus an average 12% increase, and refund fans who had already purchased tickets at the higher prices.
The timing couldn’t be more dramatic. The Knicks are coming off their championship season, and opening night at MSG will feature the banner ceremony before the team faces Philadelphia.
For Mamdani, the exchange is another reminder that being mayor doesn’t come with a complimentary courtside—or even nosebleed—seat.
For Knicks fans, meanwhile, the equation is considerably simpler: championship banner? Absolutely. Two-thousand-dollar ticket? That might require a championship-sized paycheck.
At Madison Square Garden, apparently the seats aren’t the only thing reaching the rafters.
