Dress for the job you want.
A Knicks “superfan” with dreams of becoming the official team mascot was the toast of the town Wednesday as he took to the streets to lead the wild, public Game 1 Finals celebrations in Midtown Wednesday.
The mystery man behind the costumed Niko Knickerbocker danced onto rapper French Montana’s music video set, rallied cheers behind the bars at a jam-packed restaurant and ignited cheers outside the Garden while the team soared to victory.
“Yo Niko! Yo Niko!” the fans screamed as the modern-day Knickerbocker strolled along 8th Avenue.
The Queens-born man behind the mask said the reactions are “priceless.”
“I just wanted to make something for us like that. And I felt like the fans deserved it,” Knickerbocker said.
Knickerbocker — who prefers to be called a “superfan” rather than a mascot — has been bringing the fun to fans for three seasons in an informal capacity, he told The Post on the condition of maintaining his anonymity.
The idea for the character sprouted when the man behind the mask pondered how the Knicks didn’t already have their own mascot when those like the Phoenix Suns’ “Go the Gorilla” were making a name for themselves outside the arena.
“I love being around people,” he said. “I love making people smile, making people laugh, making people happy. I just wanted to spread love for our team, spread love for our fans. And that’s what I set out to do.”
Knickerbocker sketched out a caricature of a 19th-century “newsboy” wearing knickerbocker pants as an ode to the Knick’s historical team name and spent $3,000 of his own cash to make the three-piece tweed costume a reality.
His gimmicks are simple — he parties with fans, holds up question cards about the team for fans and, in moments of ecstasy, leaps in the air and clicks his shiny blue shoes together.
But he’s also a born-and-bred New Yorker — meaning he’ll help an old lady get her cat out of her tree, but he’ll also be screaming in the after-game traffic.
It also means you can catch him crowdsurfing during the mania of the watch parties, where he’s become a celebrity in his own right.
“I used to hear all the time, ‘We have a mascot now?’ Now what I hear is, There goes Niko!” said Knickerbocker.
Rappers French Montana and Remy Ma invited Knickerbocker onto the set as they were filming the music video for the viral hit “Ever since U Left Me (I went Deaf)” outside the Garden Wednesday.
Young kids, adults and even NYPD officers stopped the costumed Knickerbocker for pictures on the historic night.
He was even invited to wave the Knicks flag behind the bar of American Whiskey at 30th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue to the delight of the jam-packed crowd.
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“Niko the Knickerbocker has been our main mascot here the entire time. His commitment to the Knicks, and everybody has been incredible,” said owner, Ben Frederique, 37, noting that he lets the superfan cool off in his walk-in freezer after working up a sweat.
Knickerbocker parties so hard he even has to wring sweat out his tweed costume at the end of the night, he admitted.
The man behind Knickerbocker has had formal meetings with the Knicks and pitched himself as their official mascot, which he said is his “ultimate goal,” but for now, the team isn’t making any hard choices.
Knickerbocker is free to do his own thing outside of the stadium — he isn’t allowed to wear the giant head in the Garden or official watch parties — but there is no official relationship.
MSG declined to respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Fans, however, are more than willing to accept him into the fold.
“There is no one better to represent us than him!” said Hatuey Fana, wearing a gigantic plastic gold chain around his neck, adding that he is also a Knickerbocker because he lives on Knickerbocker Avenue and Schaefer Street in Bushwick.
John Q, 32, who hosts the Knicks podcast “Sports Bark,” said Knickerbocker should be the mascot of the garden. This guy’s amazing, and I’m proud of him!”
