New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order on Monday titled “repealing kids’ bedtimes for Knicks Finals run,” suspending municipal bedtimes for the duration of the NBA Finals as the Knicks make their first Finals appearance since 1999.
The document, signed with a group of young students gathered around his desk, noted the city’s desire for supporters of all ages to back the team. Some of the children wore Knicks jerseys, and handprints from kids appeared on the reverse side of the order.
The order cites the practical problem that each Finals game tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET and says bedtimes should not prevent younger fans from watching. In the document, Mamdani directs that city bedtimes be repealed during the NBA Finals so children can follow the series, and he included a nod to the team anthem by adding a line that echoes the 1993 lyrics “Go New York Go New York Go.”
Mamdani, 34, has been publicly engaged throughout the Knicks’ postseason. He posted on X that deciding to suspend bedtimes was easy, and earlier in the playoffs he joked about high ticket prices in the first-round series with Atlanta, blaming former Hawks guard Trae Young. After the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, Mamdani tagged New York City sanitation on social media and posted that he wanted to “report a sweep.” He also attended Game 2 of the conference finals at Madison Square Garden.
San Antonio will host Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals, which begin Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC, before the series moves to New York. The mayor’s order aims to keep younger fans in the city tuned in late as the Knicks pursue the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
