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Iftar With the Knick and the Mayor

In a union of religion, culture, sports, and politics, a rookie for the New York Knicks broke bread with the youngest mayor in the city’s modern history.

New York Knicks rookie Mo Diawara and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani share an Iftar dinner at Saint Louis Restuarant Keur Yayou Dara before shooting hoop at the basketball courts at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem on March 14, 2026.

On Saturday night, Mohamed Diawara, the 20-year-old rookie for the New York Knicks, sat down with 34-year-old New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for Iftar.

Iftar is one of the most spiritually significant meals in Islam. Each night, it breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Over plates of steaming chicken, lamb, and fish at a 12-table Senegalese restaurant in Harlem called Saint Louis Restaurant Keur Yayou Dara, two of the city’s most prominent Muslims broke their fasts together.

In a country awash in anti-Islamic bigotry—where a GOP member of Congress can post “Muslims don’t belong in American society” without a single member of his party condemning his words—and amid the US and Israeli war on Iran, Diawara and Mamdani’s Iftar meal was a political act, even if it did not announce itself as such. It was a celebration of not just religion but visibility. Given the incredible challenges progressive and radical movements face, representation and visibility won’t be enough. But in the face of state erasure that’s both political and violently physical, it remains a necessity.

“I was sharing earlier with Mo,” Mamdani said, “that it means so much to so many young Muslim kids to know that someone on the team we love is fasting the same way.”

Diawara, who turned pro in Paris at just 17, has a maturity and sense of self that belies the fact that he was born in 2005. He is aware of his status as a Muslim, an immigrant from France, and a Knick. Living in the United States, he quickly learned that young fans would be looking up to him and understood that he would be a role model. And as a New Yorker, Diawara was excited to meet the mayor.

As for Mamdani, dining with a member of the Knicks was clearly a thrill. “What’s so exciting is that we are seeing one of the strongest Knicks teams in a long time,” he said, his voice animated. “When the Knicks do well, you can feel it in a way you can’t quite describe. You know when it was 70 degrees the other day? That’s how it feels like when the Knicks do well. People are happier. More excited. I remember during Linsanity”—the time when Jeremy Lin, another Knick, went on a one-month jag of greatness in 2012—“I was watching the games on my phone, in college and in class. That’s what it feels like right now. That feeling of excitement is what I want every New Yorker to feel like every day.”

When they were........

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