“Big Apple” design in New York’s “key to the city” (2026)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani designed a new “key to the city” and gave the symbolic awards to members of the NBA champion New York Knicks basketball team on June 18, 2026. The seal of the City of New York was replaced with an apple, for “Big Apple” (the city’s nickname).
 
The key was designed by Aneesh Bhoopathy, with typography by Tobias Frere-Jones. Keys were manufactured by Azra Khalfan Kermali, the owner of Plaques by Azra in Queens, New York.
 
   
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🗝️ The ceremonial “Key to the City”—which will be presented to the Knicks on Thursday to celebrate their NBA title—has received a total redesign under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, City Hall said Wednesday.
The new key uses “the motifs of the apple and the mayor’s signature font,” a spokesperson said.
The key was manufactured by Azra Khafan, designed by Aneesh Boothaphy and features custom typography by Tobias Frere-Jones.
The typeface Gotham, used by Frere-Jones on the design, is based on Port Authority signage and is used on the 9/11 Memorial and at NYU.
Each member of the Knicks will be presented with a key during a ceremony at City Hall following Thursday’s ticker tape parade up Broadway.
📸 NYC Mayor’s Office
(The key is shown.—ed.)
2:25 PM · Jun 17, 2026
 
The City Reporter
Knicks’ Keys To the City Have a Mamdani Campaign Touch
The NBA champions will receive keys to the city designed in the same motif as the mayor’s 2025 campaign.
by Katie Honan
June 17, 2026, 5:00 a.m.Updated June 18, 2026, 2:32 p.m.
(...)
He’ll (Mayor Zohran Mamdani—ed.) debut a newly-designed key that focuses on the city’s nickname as The Big Apple, incorporating a touch of the mayor’s own campaign aesthetic.
 
It’s the first key designed without the city seal, with a design focus on the Mamdani’s “own civic identity,” according to a press release. The design is also meant to showcase the city’s “diversity and dynamism.”
 
The gold-colored key is emblazoned with the mayor’s name in the same font as that used in his campaign on its stem. The bow of the key features an apple, with a leaf motif.
 
The key was designed by Aneesh Bhoopathy, who developed the Mamdani campaign branding and now works at City Hall, according to a spokesperson. The typography is also from the campaign and was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones.
   
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The Uri
@uricohenisrael
Of course, the design of the key to the city puts “Zohran Mamdani” in giant letters and “New York” in small print. Very typical
This isn’t a mayor. It’s a PR personality
(A video is shown.—ed.)
10:20 AM · Jun 18, 2026
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X/Twitter
Salvy
@DtothaOM
Imagine taking the NYC Seal off the key to the city and replacing it with an Apple and think you’re doing something 🚮
12:03 PM · Jun 18, 2026
 
X/Twitter
Dr. Debbie Almontaser
@DebbiAlmontaser
Followers, meet Azra Khalfan Kermali. 🗝️🤍
As the owner of Plaques by Azra, a Queens-based MWBE woman-owned small business, Azra was entrusted with manufacturing the newly redesigned Keys to the City of New York—the very keys presented to every New York Knicks champion at City Hall during yesterday’s historic ticker-tape parade. 🏆
I had the privilege of attending the City Hall ceremony and celebration, and I was filled with pride and joy when I learned that Azra had manufactured these iconic symbols of recognition. Witnessing a Muslim woman and minority business owner be part of one of the most celebrated moments in our city’s recent history made the occasion even more meaningful.
This is what excellence, representation, and investing in women- and minority-owned businesses looks like. Congratulations, Azra. Your work made an unforgettable day even more memorable, and all of New York is proud. 👑🤍
#PlaquesByAzra #MWBE #WomenOwnedBusiness #KeyToTheCity #LeadingWhileMuslim
4:40 PM · Jun 19, 2026