{"id":254455,"date":"2026-06-03T23:27:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T23:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/254455\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:27:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T23:27:24","slug":"msgs-knicks-watch-party-returns-for-nba-finals-but-fans-may-want-to-be-on-their-best-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/254455\/","title":{"rendered":"MSG\u2019s Knicks watch party returns for NBA Finals \u2014 but fans may want to be on their best behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s game on for New York Knicks fans<\/a> \u2013 but they better be on their best behavior.<\/p>\n

Madison Square Garden brought back its outdoor watch party for the start of the NBA Finals Wednesday \u2013 weeks after the city pulled permits over concerns of unruly fan antics.<\/a><\/p>\n

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But while the hordes of blue and orange fanatics are allowed to root for the hometown team outside the Garden as the Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs on the road,<\/a> the city will only be issuing permits on a game-by-game basis, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The MSG watch party is back on, to the delight of fans. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

Fans begged fellow diehards to party \u2014 but don\u2019t rip apart the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoy each other. It doesn\u2019t happen all the time,\u201d said Knicks diehard Terry Green in Brooklyn<\/a> ahead of the game. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t happened in a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd don\u2019t screw it up for everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Kallan, 24, said it\u2019s time for Knicks fans to have fun, but not too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gotta do it at a level where, listen, nobody gets hurt, nobody, you know, is putting anybody else in danger, and we\u2019re all just here for one reason, and that\u2019s to enjoy Knicks\u2019 basketball,\u201d he said outside MSG.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Knicks fans watch Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals during a televised watch party outside Madison Square Garden on Sunday, May 10, 2026, in New York<\/a>. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Street Activity Permit Office initially pulled the plug on the raucous watch parties ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> \u2013 with the NYPD saying out-of-control fans were causing too much chaos in Midtown.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGames 1 and 2 have seen progressively more problematic issues at the watch parties outside MSG \u2014 six arrests last night alone \u2014 so the NYPD will not support more watch parties outside the stadium,\u201d a police department spokesperson said at the time.<\/p>\n

But the change of course happened after the mayor\u2019s office and MSG all discussed hosting the event again, officials said. The NYPD did not take part in the discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mayor is thrilled that the Knicks will be hosting NBA Finals watch parties, including inside and outside Madison Square Garden and another in Central Park, for Game 1,\u201d a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur administration is proud to support these efforts and give New Yorkers opportunities to come together and celebrate this historic Knicks run.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs a Knicks fan and a New Yorker, the Mayor feels the energy and excitement this team has brought to the city. This is a special moment for all five boroughs, and we\u2019re thrilled these celebrations are moving forward. Let\u2019s go Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Big Apple is buzzing with excitement over the\u00a0Knicks dominating playoff run<\/a>, reaching the Finals for the first time since 1999.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Knicks fans gather inside Madison Square Garden before Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to, you know, to be with all my fellow Knicks fans and get hyped for the team here,\u201d said 19-year-old Westchester resident Colby Cotrone while he waited outside the Garden ahead of the Game 1 tip off.<\/p>\n

But he stressed the parties can get out of hand, blaming a few attention seekers rather than real fans.<\/p>\n

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\u201cKeep it civil, keep it all positive, keep it for the Knicks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The first two games are on the road in second-rate city San Antonio<\/a> before the Knicks return home for Game 3 <\/a>and Game 4 next Monday and Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Midtown arena has shown the games on huge outdoor television screens with as many as 6,000 people gathering for the fun.<\/p>\n

The Garden is also hosting an indoor watch party Wednesday that quickly sold out.<\/p>\n

Carla Cruz, 36, of Windsor Terrace, warned that if the city squashes future watch parties because of bad behavior, a bigger celebration might be off the table if the Knicks win the championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause think about it, if we can\u2019t have these watch parties, you think they\u2019re gonna allow a parade?\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s game on for New York Knicks fans \u2013 but they better be on their best behavior. Madison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[98,1266,88963,75068,222,70376,37011,9,1104,56,63,65,64,9416,9138,54478],"class_list":["post-254455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-brooklyn","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-eastern-conference-finals","tag-james-keivom","tag-madison-square-garden","tag-msg","tag-nba-finals","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-watch-party"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}