Politics
Zohran Mamdani Hit With Cease And Desist From NBA Franchise
The New York Knicks slapped city mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani with a “cease and desist” notice for using its iconic logo in a campaign ad. Team officials stressed that they do not endorse his campaign and attempted to distance themselves as the race heads down the final stretch.
The far-left lawmaker pulled the ad Friday in response to the legal notice, which was first reported on by the New York Post. Team officials stated that the ad was “likely to mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or in some way connected with the Knicks.”
The promo aired during the NBA team’s season opener Wednesday night and featured an altered New York Knicks orange and blue logo that replaced the word “Knicks” with “Zohran.” It was also blasted across all of the campaign’s social media platforms alongside the caption, “This is our year. This is our time.”
The ad aired during the Knicks’ season opener
The Knicks organization swiftly responded with legal action demanding that the ad be taken down on all platforms, which the campaign complied with Friday.
“The NY Knicks have sent NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a cease-and-desist letter for using the NY Knicks logo to promote his candidacy,” a team spokesperson told The Post.
“The Knicks want to make it clear that we do not endorse Mr. Mamdani for Mayor, and we object to his use of our copyrighted logo. We will pursue all legal remedies to enforce our rights.”
Billionaire Knicks owner James Dolan has not weighed in publicly in the mayoral race, though he has signaled opposition to far-left candidates in the past. The Madison Square Garden CEO recently revealed that he was backing independent candidate Diana Florence in a bid to unseat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, The Post reported.
With early voting officially underway, Mamdani is heavily favored to emerge victorious in a three-way race over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. A recent survey from Patriot Polling, one of the more accurate pollsters of the 2024 presidential election, found Mamdani leading with 43 percent of the vote.
Cuomo trailed the Democratic Socialist by nine, while Sliwa sits in a distant third with 19 percent of the vote.
