Knicks fever collides with New York area’s first World Cup game in 32 years

New York City is bracing for a weekend of unprecedented logistical challenges and fervent sporting passion, as the New York Knicks stand on the cusp of their first NBA championship in 53 years.

While the decisive Game 5 is being played 1,580 miles away in San Antonio, the city is set to erupt in a cacophony of orange and blue, compounded by a major international football fixture and other significant events.

Despite the team’s absence from Madison Square Garden, thousands of devoted Knicks fans are expected to descend upon the area surrounding the Manhattan arena.

The team has organized an official watch party for up to 3,000 supporters outside Madison Square Garden, requiring advanced registration and police screening. Additional viewing events are planned for Radio City Music Hall and Wollman Rink in Central Park, catering to the overwhelming demand.

This enthusiasm follows a recent dispute over security measures. For Game 4, Knicks owner James Dolan declined to host a watch party after criticizing Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the police department for maintaining a security perimeter, metal detectors, and other restrictions that were put in place following President Donald Trump’s visit to Game 3.

Throughout the postseason, fans have flocked to the “Mecca of Basketball,” celebrating the team’s remarkable run of 14 wins in 15 games since April 23, giving them a 3-1 lead over the Spurs.

Adding to the weekend’s complexity, New York City will host its first World Cup match in 32 years, with Brazil facing Morocco at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The football match kicks off approximately three hours before the Knicks game, with traffic and transit restrictions extending into Manhattan. This means thousands of football fans returning to the city by train will arrive at Penn Station, directly beneath Madison Square Garden, just as Knicks fever reaches its peak.

Further complicating matters, a concert by Australian pop band 5 Seconds of Summer is scheduled at the Garden, expected to draw another 15,000 to 20,000 people to the vicinity, precluding an indoor watch party.

The city is also grappling with a scorching heatwave, prompting officials to advise residents to remain indoors. The packed weekend culminates on Sunday with the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. The concert follows the Knicks’ dramatic Game 4 victory, where OG Anunoby’s tip-in completed a historic 29-point comeback, bringing the team within one game of their third title.

Wild scenes outside the Garden

Outside, it was pandemonium.

Fans in blue Brunson and orange Karl-Anthony Towns jerseys ran through the streets. Subway cars erupted in cheers as fans peeped the winning shot on their cellphones, their feeds interrupted at times by spotty underground reception.

Just beyond the Garden’s police-prescribed security perimeter, crowds swelled to about 10,000 people, the NYPD said. Thousands more were taking in the game and its see-it-to-believe-it ending at watch parties at nearby Bryant Park and Wollman Rink in Central Park.

But as the game progressed, the police department said in a statement, “the crowds became increasingly destructive, and there were many incidents of incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior.”

People fought in the streets and set off fireworks. They climbed scaffolding and traffic lights and smashed the windshields of four police vehicles. Some people tried to physically flip over a taxi or jump on top of moving trucks and other vehicles, police said. One group broke into a tractor trailer, took items from inside and threw them at police officers.

At least 10 officers were hurt in the mayhem, police said. One was hit in the head with a glass bottle.

In all, 56 people were taken into police custody during and after Game 4. Of them, 15 were arrested and 41 were released with criminal court summonses.

Other Knicks-related crimes remain unsolved.

On Wednesday, about two blocks from the Garden, a 17-year-old boy was beaten into a coma by people who had been arguing with him about the Knicks after their Game 4 comeback win, the NYPD said. Later, at the Spurs hotel five blocks from the arena, someone hurled an egg at star Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, but missed.

After the Spurs won Game 3 on Monday, a 39-year-old Spurs fan had his Tim Duncan jersey ripped from his body while walking back to his hotel near Times Square, the NYPD said.

New York declares Gridlock Alert

With the confluence of events on the pitch, court and stage, the city has declared a Gridlock Alert for Saturday, with severe traffic congestion expected in midtown Manhattan. Street closures and limited access to parts of Penn Station will be in effect for each of the eight World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium.

Starting at noon, two streets adjacent to the Garden — 32nd and 33rd — will be closed to vehicle traffic and used as queues for people waiting for trains from Penn Station to the World Cup. They will reopen three hours after the match ends.

The city is also barring truck deliveries from 30th Street to 60th Street from noon to 11 p.m., closing streets around the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey and converting some streets to bus-only corridors, including 42nd Street, which traverses Times Square. Of late, the tourist haven has been co-opted as yet another place for New York fans to cheer.

If the Knicks win Game 5, the next stop for their roving faithful will be a celebratory parade in Lower Manhattan, through a skyscraper-filled stretch of the city known as the Canyon of Heroes.

If not, the Knicks and their fans will be back at the Garden on Tuesday for Game 6.