You can’t start building a New York reputation if you can’t feel the roar of your home crowd and hear it echo through the stadium and the entire city.

When the love affair you imagined when you came to New York goes beyond running through the tunnel with an American flag on September 11th and you’re the quarterback of this home game from start to finish and you can finally enjoy one warm chorus after another of JETS, JETS, JETS, JETS!

Welcome home, Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers, who fell to the ground with a torn Achilles tendon four plays into his 2023 MetLife debut, was hell … for him, for the franchise and for the anguished fans.

This — Jets 24, Patriots 3 — was heaven.

The stadium Aaron Rodgers calls JetLife.

He emerged from the darkness just like him.

In his darkest hours, he feared that he would never be able to return, no matter how hard he tried to make it happen.

They feared that a 40-year-old with a rehabilitated Achilles tendon injury might not be their Savior.

“Aa-ron Rodgers…Aa-ron Rodgers…Aa-ron Rodgers.”

“It was a really special night. All those chants are really meaningful,” Rodgers said. “I was actually hoping for a stopover to take one last knee on the field, but … yeah, a special night.”

There was Rodgers, back in the hunt for his second Super Bowl championship. Everyone born after January 12, 1969, was chasing his first Super Bowl championship alongside him.

He was General Rodgers (27-35, 281 yards, 2 TDs).

Some might have thought he looked a bit like MVP Rodgers.

“He came out of the pocket, looked very mobile, accuracy is still there, power is still there. If you ask me, he’s got some years left in him,” Sauce Gardner told The Post. “I think he’s got more than a couple years left in him. Is he going to play all the couple years he’s got? Probably not. He’s got everything he needs, that’s for sure.”

Life begins at 40?

“Aa-ron Rodgers … Aa-ron Rodgers … Aa-ron Rodgers,” they chanted late in the third quarter. And again after a Josh Uche personal foul sent Rodgers on a 22-yard strike over the middle to Tyler Conklin. And again on an 18-yard strike to Mike Williams.

“This was kind of a first step into playing the way I know I can play,” Rodgers said. “I felt like I was myself a couple years ago.”

All those years of being dominated by the Patriots, wishing they could one day beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick with someone like Aaron Rodgers.

A quarterback to fear.

The Jets ended the Pats’ 15-game power grab without Rodgers in the final game of the 2023 regular season.

Now, with Rodgers in the fold, they have a two-game winning streak and should make it three by the next meeting.

Here was Rodgers, third-down machine, surgically dissecting the Pats with his arm and his mind, effortlessly moving out of the pocket and extending plays when necessary, giving the Jets defense that a year ago, or years before, might have killed a moment like this a head start. A big one.

It was the most efficient we’ve seen from the Rodgers offense, and the final piece of the puzzle was the beginning of ironing out the timing with Garrett Wilson on a perfect 2-yard TD throw inside the right cone to Christian Gonzalez. A throw Wilson asked for. A wish Rodgers granted.

We even saw Rodgers run out of harm’s way to the Jets’ sideline for 11 yards early in the third quarter.

Allen Lazard caught Rodgers’ first MetLife TD pass as a Jet, handing the ball off to his old Packers teammate, who meant so much to him.

Artist at work:

A flick of the wrist to Conklin over the middle on second-and-17 for 22. It set up Breece Hall for the 1-yard TD run after a successful challenge by Robert Saleh and it was Jets 14, Patriots 0.

Third-and-9 before the two-minute warning: another wrister to Conklin for 22 yards over the middle.

Welcome home, Aaron Rodgers.

Of course, the Jets wouldn’t be the best without some confusing intrigue.

For example, why did Rodgers push Saleh away on the sideline and glare at him, when the coach appeared to want to hug him after Hall’s touchdown in the second quarter?

This was their story, and they stuck to it: something about taking a rare two-TD lead. Presumably the quarterback warned the coach that it was too early to celebrate.

“Aa-ron Rodgers…Aa-ron Rodgers…Aa-ron Rodgers.”