The Empire City concept jersey makes use of the “Subway Token Logo” secondary which debuted in 1996 and was designed by one of my favorite designers, Michael Doret.  

The letters “NYK” represent the city and the team’s nickname New York Knicks.  Michael's design drew its inspiration from the old MTA subway tokens and elements of it crept into early concepts of the Knicks’ primary logo.  The Knicks have been using as a secondary logo since 1995. It's graced equipment and merchandise since then, and was featured on the back of the uniform until recently. Michael's design drew its inspiration from the old MTA subway tokens and elements of it crept into early concepts of the Knicks’ primary logo.