NYC NOW - Catching Up on Sports and the Dress Shoe Comeback

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Sports reporter Priya Desai joins us to discuss the Knicks’ playoff push, Team USA women’s hockey’s gold medal run with two local players, and Unrivaled bringing elite women’s basketball to Barclays Center. Plus, WNYC’s James Ramsay weighs in on the dress shoe revival and what footwear says about being a “real” New York

Welcome to NYC Now. I'm Junae Pierre. Team USA's women's hockey team wins gold. The New York Knicks and their questionable season. And women's basketball in Brooklyn. That's all ahead. But first, here's your news headlines. Nurses at New York Presbyterian could return to work as soon as next week,

after more than a month of striking. The New York State Nurses Association says the 42, 200 remaining striking nurses reached a tentative contract agreement this week with hospital leadership. The union says the new agreement ensures protections for nurses against workplace violence, increases their salaries, and enforces so-called safe staffing standards. Union members will vote to ratify the new contract through the weekend. New York Presbyterian says the pending agreement reflects its, quote, tremendous respect for its nurses. You may recall nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore hospitals who were also fighting for new contracts ended their strikes last week

after reaching agreements with hospital leadership. Mayor Zoramamam Dhani is proposing $29 million in funding cuts from libraries, reversing one of his campaign promises. During his campaign, Mamdani pledged to support libraries. He even urged New Yorkers to download the e-book, heated rivalry from libraries during the recent snowstorm. But the preliminary budget he introduced this week, cuts funding from the New York Public Library. Abby Emerson is part of a campaign pressuring the mayor to turn the page.

At this point, if you're just going to say, oh, go check out a book, oh, I love the library, but you're not actually supporting them, then that's a real disappointment. A spokesperson for Mayor Mumdani says this is only the beginning of the budget process and that the mayor will, quote, not take savings that inhibit vital city services. What are you doing? Don't put those snow boots away just yet, New Yorkers. The National Weather Service says the metro area could get some snow Sunday into Monday. But meteorologist John Murray says the forecast could still change. We generally have around three to five inches of snowfall forecast, but there is some uncertainty with that still.

Besides the snow, the storm is expected to bring other hazards, including gusty winds and coastal flooding during high tides. Governor Kathy Hochle is urging New Yorkers to be careful. while traveling and keep an eye on changing conditions. Temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-30s on Sunday and into next week. Meteorologists say the wintry weather should taper off on Monday. Still ahead, we're talking sports. From the Winter Olympics to those sometimes frustrating New York Knicks and women's basketball. That's ahead in just a minute.

Stay close. It may be cold outside, but the local sports scene, it's heating up. Today we're taking a quick pulse on what's happening around New York right now, from a Knicks team trying to prove it's the real deal, to the global spotlight of the winter games, to a women's league testing the appetite of the city's basketball fans. Joining me right now is Priya Desai. She's a sports reporter and WNYC contributor.

Hey, Priya. Hi, thank you for having me. We are so happy to have you. You know, I want to start off with the Winter Olympics, a big moment for women's hockey and Team USA, who came away with a gold medal after a really exciting win over Canada. Can you talk a little bit about this team? And there are two local players.

There's a New York connection there, right? Yeah, two local players from Western New York, the two Haley's, I call them, Haley, Wynn, and Haley Scalamura. They both were very important to this win. Haley Scamura early on in the privilege. Lemonaries really set the tone. That's when I was watching this team and being like, they're going to win this gold medal. They had... Oh, you knew it. I knew it. Listen, the gold medal game was nerve-wracking. But early on, they allowed two goals throughout this whole tournament over seven games. Shutout after shut out after shut out. It was beautiful to watch. Gold medal game, very nerve-wracking. They went into overtime. And there was actually a point. I was whispering to someone next.

I was like, I think they're going to lose. They look exhausted. I hope that whisper was very low. It was very low, but we were all a little worried. And then they found the energy to come out and tied up and then go into overtime and win. Exciting win. It was amazing. Where did you watch the game? I watched a game at this bar downtown called Wilkes, not too far from where we are right now. Very nice bar. Loved it. So they have 20 screens. They only show women sports. It was packed. And it was a phenomenal energy. So it's been four years since Team USA won a medal. They won silver four years ago at the Winter Games in Beijing.

What changed for this team? I think that the two Haley's are a perfect example of what they did. Over the past four years, they wanted to keep some of their high-level veterans. So that's Haley Skamura. And then they wanted to add some youth, which they did. Our other Haley, which is brand new to the Olympics. And so they took their veterans and they went through international players and the NCAA pipeline has been huge and got some younger players and created this team that had experience but also had that energy that they needed. Yeah.

Like in the later stretches of the game. It was some really smart moves that obviously paid off. Yeah. And, you know, it's Black History Month. So I got a shout out Layla Edwards. She's the defender. You're 22 years old. No New York connection there.

She's an Ohio native, but she became the first black woman to win a gold medal on the women's U.S. hockey team. So shout out to you, girl. Her family was there. Yes. The Kelsey Bros brought them in. That was so nice, right? It was so great. All right.

Let's move on to the NBA. Of course, we're past the All-Star break. Let's talk about the New York Knicks here. Can this team make some real noise in June? or is this a team that still has something to prove? I mean, they're doing a little better now, but like, what can we look forward to? I think this is a team that still has something to prove. Going into the season, they were picked to be in the playoffs over and over again over Detroit.

And now Detroit is a team that they just can't seem to get through. Yeah. And that's a problem. When Detroit doesn't have two of their best players, but yet they still are able to beat Nix in a way that is embarrassing and has fans booing. You've got to start wondering, how do we change things up? And that Detroit game, Priya, that you're mentioning, the Nix fell to the Pistons, 126 to 111. And our dear producer, Jared, has called Detroit Pistons the boogeymen of the East.

Yeah. I mean, I never would have thought that Detroit was going to be the team that could. eventually stop them. Look, there's scenarios where another team can kick Detroit out and then, you know, the Knicks during the playoffs can, Knicks fans can take a breath. But this is a team that you have to beat. And the Pistons have figured out how to control the Knicks and how to control their tempo and how to control their matchups. And what I see is other teams looking at Detroit and be like, oh, this is the playbook. I am frustrated for Knicks fans. because this felt like the coaching change and bringing on some additional bench players,

you thought, okay, this is the moment. And then to have a team like Detroit completely shut out this team is frustrating to watch. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, the Detroit Pistons, they're obviously a test for the New York Knicks, but you can't forget about Boston. Right. I mean, all roads go through Boston in the East, right? Well, maybe not.

Maybe it's Detroit. Maybe it is. Detroit is more of what I call. call like the canary in the coal mine. So if you know you can't get past Detroit, what are you going to do when you go to Boston? Yeah. Yeah. So what needs to change for the Knicks? First and foremost, put more shooters on the floor. That's what I said. Look, I'm not a coach and I'm not, you know, working for this team, but can I get five shooters on the floor consistently for more than like one minute out of the game? And you can like spread the ball a little bit more, create more space.

That doesn't seem to happen. Secondly, you had a defense prior to the all. star break. That was the number one defense in the leak. And that's now starting to break down. And granted, a player like, oh, gee, is coming off injury. But you need to figure out what to do when you have, let's say, both Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns on the floor, defensively, what do you do at that point? Because there's issues with Kat when it comes to being able to post up. Then there's issues with Brunson and his size and not being able to get a lot. over like bigger guards. These are all questions that don't seem to be answered.

And I think those questions are going to be asked and answered the next week. They want a serious run into the playoffs. They have to be answered. They have to be answered. All right. Let's switch gears here and talk a bit about women's basketball. Unrivaled is coming to Barclays. Of course, Unrivaled is the three-on-three league built by our very own Brianna Stewart and

Ephesus Collier. And, you know, unrival coming to Brooklyn seems, it just feels bigger than just another league stop. What does that signal about the demand for women's basketball in New York right now? So I looked at tickets because I was just curious. Yesterday I was looking at tickets. And all the lower levels are sold out. And those usually go for a couple thousand dollars. Wow.

And the upper levels are, I mean, there's not a ton of tickets. Like, they're selling pretty fast. I think because of Stewart, she really has such a strong fan base in New York. So, for one, they're going to show her support, right? And number two, women's bat. I mean, look, the Liberty, they won the championship. Yeah. We're still champions.

I'm going to see it. Fair. They have created such a momentum in New York that I wasn't that surprised that tickets were going so quickly. because I haven't seen a ton of marketing for unrivaled. Yeah, you're right. Haven't seen it. I was watching, like, I just wall-to-wall Olympic coverage, and I saw one commercial for unrivaled, which was a little surprising to me.

And I hear about it amongst, like, media circles, but do you talk about it with your friends? I've never seen a commercial for unrivaled. Everything I've heard is, like, through circles, like, friend circles. or social media, but never on television. Yeah, and so that was, I was really happy to see how well the tickets were selling. And again, I think it's because obviously Stewie, everyone loves Stewie, but I think New York has such a special relationship with women's basketball that it was no surprise that it's doing well here.

And especially now with the questions with what's going to happen with the collective bargaining agreement and the WMBA, like people, fans want something to watch. watch and turn to. But I'm excited that the semifinals are in New York. And the finals, of course, are going to be back in Miami. But it's fun. It's a fun time. And I know like March Madness is coming up. And I'm sure you're excited about that, right? I know. You know, whenever there's an Olympic season, you kind of forget what is coming down the pipelines. The sports just keep coming. It keeps coming. I know. I was like, oh, I get to rest a little bit. Oh, no. That's right. March Madness.

I will say when you're watching a lot of the women's games in March Madness, it's really exciting because you're seeing fully what we're going to see down the stretch in the WMBA. And women's basketball in the NCAA, their numbers, their viewership numbers, are crazy. Yeah. I don't quote me on this, but I believe it was two years ago, the women's final outranked, I think the men's Sweet 16. And that consistently does happen. I think it was a Duke men's game. Again, don't quote me on that, but I know that the numbers for the women's finals are outpacing some of the Sweet 16 and maybe even Elite 8 to viewership numbers of men. And I love watching

the championship games in a, like, amongst like a big group of women at a bar. And you're seeing them put games on the TVs in these bars, whether or not it's a women's sports bar. It's just like it's become part of, it's just normal to walk in and be like, oh, can we put on the women's championship game? No problem. And I know it sounds silly to a lot of younger listeners, but 10, 15 years ago, it was, do you agree? Like, it was a little bit of a struggle to like go somewhere and ask them to change it

to a woman's game. It was a whole fight. It could be a whole fight, you know? No one's switching, what, baseball to women's. Sports? No. No one's doing it. But now, who run the world? Girls. Priya, thanks so much for chatting with me. This was lovely. Thank you. Pria Desai is a sports reporter and a WNYC contributor. What makes a real New Yorker? It's a question people ask all the time. Some people say it's the number of years you've lived here,

while others say it's how confident you are in the subway without a map. But maybe it's as simple as what's on your feet. When you wake up in the morning, dear listener, I assume you're doing your morning routine. That's maybe grabbing a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, catching up on your favorite podcast NYC now. But before you head out the door, are you grabbing a pair of sneakers or do you wear classic dress shoes? You know, the kind you get polished in that big chair at Grand Central, the kind you take to an old repair shop to get resold.

What does a real New Yorker choose? I'm here with James Ramsey, who's a digital producer here at WMYC, and he has been fixated on this question for years. For years. Hey, James. Hey, Jane. What kind of shoes are you wearing? Today I'm wearing black penny loafers, which incidentally I just took to the repair shop around the corner to get polished and shined up. So apologies if they smell a little chemically.

Yeah. That's you. I needed to look good for this interview. Wow. I did not know that was you. It's very strong. But they feel great. They look great.

And that's what's important. Okay. So should a real New Yorker wear dress shoes? The answer is yes. Absolutely. I believe that. Okay. Wow.

I also believe a lot of things. I believe I should eat more fine. Iber, I should read more classic novels. Do I do those things? No. So this falls into the category of truths that I ascribe to that I don't put into practice in my own life. But the reason that New Yorker should wear dress shoes is this is a serious town and dress shoes are serious shoes. A serious town?

Yes. Define that. I came from Southern California as context. So this is a transplant story. Okay. You just got tired of wearing flip-flops. Well, Southern California, it's beautiful. it's the worst dress place on the planet. You know, my Sunday school teacher wore flip-flops to church. Now, if I learned anything as a Presbyterian, it's that by grace alone, are we offered salvation? You don't get God points for nice shoes. But you get James points for nice shoes. And so when I said, you know what, I'm moving to this big, sophisticated city. You know, people here used to go to baseball games and dress shoes. You know, my dad lived in the city in the 80s. He worked at Bloomingdale's up on 63rd.

And so he said, James, you're moving to New York. Well, you know, he gave me this antiquated, like, checklist. He's like, well, you need an overcoat. You need good winter boots. I was like, yes, I'm going to New York. I'm going to be an adult. And I'm going to look good. And like I said, I've pulled off all these other things in my life.

And for a variety of complicated reasons, the dress shoe just hasn't been a thing that I've been able to make consistently stick. And the longer time goes on, I need to make this happen. Okay. I'm going to keep my opinions to myself briefly. Okay. I do want to know them. I'll tell you at the end. Okay. Okay. Great. Great. Big reveal. But like, who supports you in this?

Well, so I thought to myself, is this a one man's dumb fixation or is this a real thing? And I talked to this guy Ian Bradley, who's big time fashion stylist. He's done like covers for T-Magazine, stuff for Tom Brown, like these big high-end fashion brands. And I said, do you, is this a real thing that being a grown adult New Yorker, you wear dress shoes or am I crazy? and our sneakers, the move. I do think it is a nice signifier of growing up. I think there should be an era that as an adult you wear a dress shoe. And it doesn't have to be too formal, but it's just like a nice chapter in one's life.

He sympathized with my journey that he didn't come around to this until his mid-30s when he got a pair of secondhand black loafers and he was like, these are the ones that finally worked for me. But I was asking him, I was like, you know, is this, something that I'm going to age into. You know, you see the dignified six-year-old man on the subway in a pair of dress shoes, and you say, oh, that's so natural, that's just him doing him. You know, is there going to come a day where I make that happen?

And he was like, no, you got to go for it. He said, you know, when I came here to work in the fashion business, I would see 20-year-olds hanging out in Soho wearing, you know, black leather dress shoes with like jean shorts or something. You know, and they look so natural and cool. He was like, it's not going to magically happen. You got to commit to it. and make it you. I think the right shoe finds you or you can find the right shoe to make that transition

into being a dress you wear. You are here in your penny loafers. Yes. But one could argue that loafers aren't even dress shoes. Right. They could say you look like a schoolboy from the 50s. Yeah, especially if you put those on with white socks like everyone's doing. I thought that was just a fashion trend.

But like, what makes a dress shoe? That's a great question. And in my head, and, you know, I'm not a scientist here, it's like brown or black leather shoes that don't have white rubber soles. I would even categorize, you know, and as we're talking earlier about stylist Ian Bradley, he was like, people who, you know, are good dress shoe wears who are natural dress shoe wears. He said many of them were Doc Martin teens. I think to, you know, people who learned as 15-year-olds to, like, break in a tough leather shoe. and then they just sort of graduate into the world of stiffer and stiffer leather footwear. I mean, to me, a Doc Martin is a dress shoe.

Okay. This is where I come in. Yes. I was a Doc Martin kid. Okay. Love Doc Martins. Moved here, got into the dress sneakers. Do you know what those are?

Explain it for me. Okay, okay. I'm going to. Yeah, let's see. Bring it up here. All right. All right. We got the wands on a platform.

You dress it up a little bit. Those just kind of blew my mind. I need 10 minutes. it's the thing about how to categorize it. Well, how do you categorize it? Okay, so dress sneaker. It's a dress sneaker. So I'm wearing a pair of low top Nike Air Force Ones with a platform, right?

And then there's a silver cap on the top in the front, you know. And I think, like, even though there are shoestrings, I think this is a dress sneaker. You make, I think you make the rule there. Yeah. But I want to go back to the sneaker culture, right? Yes. Because it's so heavy here in New York City. and you're talking about the loafer takeover, the dress shoe take over right now.

But I'm wondering, do you see sneaker culture going away? Do you see that changing at all? No, not at all because, like you said, they look good, they're perfect for walking around. You can express yourself. And, I mean, God knows you can blow a whole paycheck on a pair of sneakers, but you could really blow a whole paycheck on a good pair of dress shoes. Or an old pair that needs to be resold. Or an old pair that needs to be resold.

And, you know, the, I feel like there's controversy about even going into, like, used dress shoes because somebody else broke them in. It's going to mess up your alignment or something like that. That's a nerdy sidebar. Well, something to consider, seriously. Something to consider it. So, like, the obvious answer is wear what you want. It's fine. I think that, you know, once upon a time, it was simpler because there were dress codes or there were, you know, social norms where if you were going to a job and an office.

office you were wearing dress shoes. Obviously now it's a free for all. You should express yourself however you want. And there's no rules. I went into a shop the other day to try on a pair of loafers that didn't work for me, a place called Cueva and Greenpoint. As I'm standing there trying on these shoes and I'm talking to the owner and I was like, you know, do you think that there's been any trend recently in people trying to wear more formal footwear or whatever? He said, yeah. He said, but it's, he said, I'm in the shop on a Saturday morning. People saunter in here in sweatpants and loafers. It's not about conforming to some sort of rule thing. It's about people wanting to express themselves. And that can be through sneakers. It could be through dress shoes.

It could be, you know, flip-flops if you really want to do that. But I think it's more, you know, he said, he was like, look, New York City, it's the best dress city in the world, which is true. He said, also New York City is a judgment-free zone, which is not true. This is a very judgmental city. But I appreciated the point, which is like, of course, yes, you know, wear cool sneakers, wear whatever you want. do it with all your heart and all your might. Yeah. I'm just thinking of that because I'm not a sneaker head, but I do appreciate a good sneaker, especially considering all the walking we do in New York City. I am here for comfort, okay? Well, that's the thing, too, is obviously, you know, unless you're being chauffured around places, you're putting in miles every day. Yeah. And to do that

in a pair of leather shoes is masochistic. It seems like a horrible thing. That said, and so of course, You know, when I'm walking and I see somebody like, you know, strutting down the sidewalk in a pair of leather shoes and they're not grimacing, I think of that person. I go, man, the work they put in to break those in, to get to that next level, I can do nothing but admire it. That's WMYC's digital producer James Ramsey. Thanks a lot, James. Thanks, Jane. Okay, dear listener, it's time for you to chime in on this one. Do you prefer sneakers or dress shoes?

Is it no pain, no gain? for a real New Yorker. When you're on the subway, what's working out for you? Send us a voice note or a comment to NYC now at WNYC.org. We may use your comment in a future episode.