PARADISE CITY
MORE KNICKS MIGRATING TO MANHATTAN THAN EVER BEFORE
Derrick Rose prefers Manhattan over the slower pace of Westchester. Because the hustle and bustle of Manhattan is still less stressful than his days living in his hometown Chicago.
“I love it ,’’ Rose, in his first season with the K nicks, told The Post. “I love my building. My neighborhood. My neighbors. They let me walk around in peace. They never bother me. There’s still women with their strollers, walking with their kids, walking their dogs.’’
“The love here is different,’’ Rose added. “They say, ‘what’s up?’ and keep it moving. In Chicago, it’s more like, ‘ Man, this might be the only time seeing you. Can I get a picture? Or make a video for me?’ Here, it’s just ‘Hey, DRose, saw you had a good game yesterday,’ and they keep walking.’’
The migration to Manhattan for Knicks players has been startling since David Lee and Amar’e Stoudemire became the pioneers. Lee was the first, but Stoudemire set the trend, taking up digs in the Meatpacking District after signing in 2010.
The Knicks practice in Westchester — in Tarrytown — so the convenience of living in that county kept players from being city slickers. Players residing near the West Side Highway, however, go against rush-hour traffic and can commute to a morning practice in Tarrytown in 30 to 35 minutes.
The Knicks have six players living in Manhattan — believed to be the most in team history. Their head coach Jeff Hornacek and president Phil Jackson settled in Gotham, too.
Knicks historians believe Willis Reed is the last Knicks head coach to live in Manhattan, in 1978. Even sleek Pat Riley didn’t have the city bug.
As a result, Hornacek shifted their morning shootaround sessions — a short practice held in the morning before night games — from the Tarrytown campus to the Garden.
The city dwellers — Rose, Car- melo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, Joakim Noah, Lance Thomas and Sasha Vujacic — love the new setup.
Anthony waited until his second full season as a Knick before moving to Manhattan with his actress/wife, La La. And that was on a one-year rental as an experiment, taking a five-bedroom place overlooking Central Park. He’s now moved permanently to a Chelsea apartment close to the High Line.
“My family wanted to be in the city because of the work of my wife — a lot of her work was in the city,’’ Anthony told The Post. “We tried it when I first got here and lived in White Plains. Then we went to the city and it was more convenient for her overall. Coming from Denver where you had houses and backyards, you got to give and take in this situation.’’
Anthony has a driver but sometimes likes to drive the Westchester commute himself.
“I’m right off the West Side [Highway], so it’s easy,’’ Anthony said.
Still owning a home in Phoenix, Hornacek decided to get a place in Manhattan, mostly for his wife, Stacy, because their children are grown.
“For us pers onal ly, we fe l t there’s more to do in the city, especially for my wife when I’m on the road,’’ Hornacek sai d. “Being from Phoenix, it’s pretty crowded, but it’s fun.
“Guys like being here where they don’t have to have a big trip [from Westchester] coming in for the game. We’re trying to do more shootarounds here because of it.it It’s difficult for the Whites Plains guys. We’re continuing to look at it to see if it’s beneficial. To get in the arena in the morning, it makes it more a homecourt advantage’’
It ’s been benef icial. Th e Knicks’ home record is a healthy 11-5 .
ABrooklyn native who grew up in the Newark area, Thomas started living in Tribeca last season. He is the city’s largest advocate.
“I want to be in the city, I’m used to it,’’ Thomas said. “I’m comfortable in the city. I know the city very well and I feel like you don’t grasp the full experiences of being a Knick living in Westchester.”
Courtney Lee asked Thomas about living in the city after signing this summer. Thomas encouraged him, but Lee is taking it slow and starting out his first season in Westchester with an eye on relocating in 2017.
“When guys come ask about who’s in the city, I tell them, ‘If you want to fully experience being a Knick I think you should live in the city,’’’ Thomas said. “It’s a little more of a drive to practice but the city is the city.’’
Noah, a product of Hell’ s Kithen, needed no sell job. He had bought a place near the old neighborhood just months before signing with the Knicks in July.
“Why?’’ Noah said. “Because it’s home.
“I wasn’t sure when I signed where the practice facility was,’’ Noah added. “I went to the [freeagent] meeting [with Jackson]. I had already bought my apartment regardless if I played for the Knicks or not. It worked out amazing.’’
Noah said traffic going up to Tarrytown can “sometimes be bad,’’ so he’s looking at adding a Westchester apartment for convenience.
Similarly, Porzingis still has a place in Westchester, but he and his two brothers, Janis and Martin, this season began renting in the Sky building on Manhattan’s West Side — the same complex in which Anthony runs a basketball
court/gym and uses for workouts.
“It’s been great,’’ Porzingis said, “but I still don’t do too much.”
Porzingis says at 7-foot-3 it’s tough to walk around without being recognized and admits the city location occasionally backfires. He didn’t get home to his apartment until nearly 3:30 a.m. after a flight last month from Charlotte because the team plane flies into Westchester Airport.
Vujacic lives a block away from Porzingis and feels he’s got the best of both coasts. The former Laker also has a place in Manhattan Beach in addition to Manhattan. “Both beautiful places,’’ Vujacic said.
Jackson resides on the West Side in the 50s, where he also lived during his playing career. Back then, most of the Knicks lived in New Jersey and Westchester — except Clyde Frazier, who resided on the East Side overlooking the 59th Street Bridge.
“I don’t care if anyone lived in the city. I just wanted to live and not commute to games and I hired a driver to take me there,’’ Rose said. “For Westchester. I leave very early. I’m used to it now. I spent six years in Chicago living in the suburbs. In Chicago, there’s more easier shortcuts to get where you want to go downtown.
“Here, one way takes you to the suburbs. It’s less confusing.”
With the Knicks’ Big 3— Anthony, Porzingis and Rose — in Gotham, even more are expected to follow.
“Guys are feeling more comfortable living in the city — really understanding it’s just a 30-minute drive [to practice],’’ Anthony said.