'Bedtime is repealed': Mayor Mamdani signs playful executive order allowing kids to stay up late and watch NBA Finals

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a playful, symbolic executive order on Monday morning, temporarily lifting bedtimes for school-aged children across the city so they can stay up to watch the New York Knicks compete in the NBA Finals.

The announcement comes as Knicks fever grips the city. The team has advanced to the Finals for the first time since 1999, setting up a highly anticipated, nostalgic showdown against the San Antonio Spurs. Game 1 is scheduled to tip off on Wednesday, June 3, at 8:30 pm Eastern Time.

'Bedtime is repealed!'

Mayor Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist who took office in January, hosted a group of local students at City Hall on Monday morning to make the order official. Dressed in a dark suit, the mayor leaned into his reputation as a grassroots sports enthusiast, gathering the kids around his desk to stamp and sign the document.

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Instead of traditional signatures, several children in attendance were invited to authorize the decree by stamping it with ink palm prints.

"Bedtime is officially repealed! All of you can stay up and watch the Finals," Mamdani declared to cheers from the students.

While the executive order holds no actual legal authority over household rules, the tongue-in-cheek gesture was widely celebrated by fans online as a fun way to engage the city's youngest generation of basketball supporters.

A rematch decades in the making

The Knicks' historic playoff run has united a notoriously divided city, capturing the attention of everyday New Yorkers and high-profile figures alike. Mamdani, who has frequently been spotted cheering on the team from the cheaper "nosebleed" sections of Madison Square Garden rather than courtside luxury boxes, has actively used his platform to champion the underdog squad.

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The upcoming series marks a direct rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals, the last time the Knicks reached the championship stage, where they ultimately fell to the Spurs.