Two retired New York City Sanitation Department workers, Doug Bertinelli and Pat Hannafin, have been friends since their grade school days. They recently revisited a memory from 1973 when the New York Knicks last won an NBA Championship.
In 1969, Bertinelli and Hannafin met as middle-school students and basketball teammates for Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island. Their initial season together culminated in a championship victory. The following year, they camped overnight outside Madison Square Garden to purchase tickets to witness the Knicks secure their victory.
By 1973, as high school seniors and best friends, they attended the Garden again. Bertinelli used his earnings as a part-time grocery cashier and stock boy to fund their visit to see the Knicks clinch a second title. Hannafin crafted a celebratory banner with a bedsheet and a magic marker for a Manhattan celebration.
As the years passed and the Knicks faced challenging times, the banner was tucked away in Hannafin’s attic. Despite this, both friends continuously discussed their favorite team. Recently, they attended a Knicks championship celebration, complete with a ticker-tape parade, bringing the aged banner along.
Bertinelli, 71, and Hannafin, 70, both retired from the Sanitation Department and have children who have grown up since the last Knicks championship. Over time, Hannafin became a devoted New York sports enthusiast, known for his signs at games and collection of memorabilia. Bertinelli wasn’t surprised by Hannafin’s preservation of the banner for over five decades.
Now residing in Barnegat, N.J., Bertinelli didn’t hesitate to make the drive to Staten Island to watch a Knicks game with Hannafin, despite the team’s loss. “It was like old times,” Bertinelli said. “Even though they lost, we ordered pizza.”
Both attended St. Peter’s Boys High School on Staten Island and later worked at separate garages within the Sanitation Department. Hannafin managed the early shift in Manhattan, while Bertinelli became a supervisor on Staten Island. Their daughters were born just three days apart.
“On days Pat would work on Staten Island, I’d tell the people setting up, ‘Put him with me,’” Bertinelli said. “We’d do a route.” Hannafin, who never owned a cellphone, still relied on his house phone whose number Bertinelli knows by heart.
They took the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan for the parade, echoing their teenage years when finals tickets were still within reach. “Wiping the dust off that banner, that was the highlight,” Hannafin shared. Bertinelli was glad to drive back to Staten Island to accompany Hannafin to the event. As they noted, the celebration had grown in size.
“We can’t see each other that often now,” Hannafin remarked due to their homes’ distance. “But 53 years later, we’re still attached to the Knicks.”