Doug Bertinelli and Pat Hannafin, both retired workers from the New York City Sanitation Department, have been friends since middle school. The pair reminisced about their past as they dusted off a celebratory banner from 1973. This was the last time the New York Knicks won an NBA championship until 53 years later.
Bertinelli and Hannafin, who met in 1969 while playing basketball for Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Staten Island, celebrated the Knicks’ recent victory with a banner they created decades ago. Their friendship had already led to a championship win in their school league.
In 1970, the two friends waited outside Madison Square Garden overnight, eager to secure tickets to see the Knicks win the championship. By 1973, during their high school senior year, they returned to the Garden. Bertinelli’s part-time job earnings helped fund their tickets. Hannafin created a banner from a bedsheet and marker for the Knicks’ victory celebration in Manhattan.
Although the team’s success faded, Bertinelli and Hannafin remained avid fans. When the Knicks won again, they attended the victory parade, bringing the banner along.
Both Bertinelli, 71, and Hannafin, 70, had spent their careers working in different Sanitation Department garages. Hannafin worked mornings in Manhattan, while Bertinelli was a supervisor in Staten Island. Despite the distance, they continued to nurture their friendship by meeting for games and other events.
On a recent Thursday, Bertinelli and Hannafin took the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan, just as they had decades earlier. Reflecting on the past, Hannafin noted the banner’s significance, ‘Wiping the dust off that banner was the highlight.’ They relished the chance to share another Knicks celebration, remarking on the event’s larger scale compared to 1973.
Though time has limited their visits, both men remain united by their shared love for the Knicks, proving their bond has endured over the years.
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