2 Lifelong Friends Revive 1973 Knicks Banner at Championship Parade 53 Years Later
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 20
2 Lifelong Friends Revive 1973 Knicks Banner at Championship Parade 53 Years Later
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 20
Summary
Doug Bertinelli, 71, and Pat Hannafin, 70, carried a hand-made 1973 Knicks championship banner to Thursday’s ticker-tape parade, returning to a title celebration together after 53 years.
The Staten Island friends first met in 1969, won a church basketball title as teammates, then saved up to watch the Knicks win championships at Madison Square Garden in 1970 and 1973.
Pat Hannafin had stored the fading bedsheet banner in his attic for decades, and the pair revived it for the Broadway-to-City Hall celebration by retracing their old trip on the Staten Island Ferry.
Their reunion underscored how the Knicks’ latest title connected generations of fans, with the two retired sanitation workers saying the new celebration felt even bigger than the one they attended as teenagers.