The last time the Knicks won an NBA title in 1973, Elvis played the Coliseum and Nixon was president
The Knicks' Dave DeBusschere scores during Game 4 of the Knicks vs Lakers championship series at Madison Square Garden on May 8, 1973. Credit: Newsday/Dick Morseman
This story was reported by Ashna Balroop, Robert Brodsky, Ada Carlston and Layla Duran. It was written by Brodsky.
It's been more than half a century since the Knicks last won an NBA title — 53 years and 25 days to be precise.
When the Knicks last hoisted a championship trophy, on May 10, 1973 — with a team featuring Willis Reed, Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe beating the Los Angeles Lakers in five games — Richard Nixon was president, disco was king and the World Wide Web was about two decades away.
And Long Island bore hardly a resemblance to the region of today.
Nassau County was led by a six-member board of supervisors, Grumman was Long Island's largest employer and the Hamptons were just beginning to transition from a bohemian paradise to a retreat for the nation's elite and uber-wealthy.
Here's a dip into the time machine to see what the Island looked like the last time the blue and orange were champions of the world.
Population
In the early 1970s, Long Island's population was about 2.55 million, nearly 13% less than our current population of 2.92 million across both counties, according to U.S. Census data. At the time, Nassau residents far outnumbered those in Suffolk; a reversal of the current trend.
Michael, 3, and William Corio, 6, stand on the sidewalk getting service from Good Humor man Charles Deitch in Smithtown in June 1973. Credit: Newsday/Mitch Turner
The last time the Knicks hung a championship banner in the rafters of Madison Square Garden, the median age of Long Islanders was under 30 — it is well above 40 currently — and non-whites represented just 5.1% of its total population. Now roughly one in four Long Islanders are either Black, Hispanic or Asian, data shows.
Nassau Coliseum
If you wanted to see basketball on Long Island in 1973, fans needed to drive no further than the Nassau Coliseum, which opened its doors just one year earlier, and served as the home for the American Basketball Association's New York Nets.
The Nets, which finished their inaugural season at the Coliseum with a 30-54 record, were coached by Lou Carnesecca, years before he became a New York icon leading the basketball program at St. John's University, and one year before the arrival of East Meadow's Julius Erving — aka Dr. J.
Elvis Presley performs at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale in June 1973. Credit: Newsday/Jim Peppler and David L. Pokress
In 1973, the Old Barn was also the home to a new franchise just finding its footing on Long Island — the New York Islanders — while playing host to music legends such as the Allman Brothers, Frank Zappa, Rod Stewart and Elvis Presley.
Energy
By the early 1970s, Nassau and Suffolk residents received their electrical power and natural gas from the Long Island Lighting Company, or LILCO.
Constructon of the LILCO's (Long Island Lighting Company) Shoreham nuclear power plant. Credit: NEWSDAY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/Newsday/Bob Luckey
After converting most of its plants from coal to oil a decade earlier, LILCO laid out plans for a 455-acre nuclear site along the mouth of Long Island Sound on the border of Brookhaven and Riverhead towns.
Construction of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant broke ground in 1973 but faced stiff opposition following the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters and was decommissioned without generating a single watt of electricity.
Health and hospitals
In the 1970s, Long Island was home to three of the nation's largest psychiatric facilities: Central Islip, Kings Park and Pilgrim State. Only the latter facility remains open today, though Pilgrim State has significantly downsized and provides care at a fraction of its scale from the 1970s.
Healthcare and social services then accounted for less than 6% of Long Island's workforce, figures show. Private education and healthcare services now comprise almost 24% of jobs in the region, including Northwell Health, Long Island's biggest employer.
The facility currently known as Nassau University Medical Center would not open until 1974 while Stony Brook University Hospital would not treat its first patient until 1980.
Inside the bar car of a Long Island Rail Road train on the Oyster Bay line in May 1973. Credit: Newsday/Naomi Lasdon
Transportation
In 1972, the 81-mile Long Island Expressway was finally completed after extending all the way to Riverhead in an effort to meet the demands of the region's growing population and accommodate increasing commercial traffic.
The highway, originally designed to handle 80,000 vehicles daily, now sees more than 200,000 in some areas.
By 1973, the Long Island Rail Road was averaging 211,000 daily weekday riders. That number now exceeds 300,000, the agency said.
