It\u2019s an hour and a half before tipoff and the room at Standings is filling up. The usual seats around the East Village bar\u2019s three tables are stashed away because the staff are expecting the biggest crowd in years. It\u2019s game one of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the city\u2019s beloved Knicks, and the buildup has been frenzied. As the room fills up, I spot another regular, Dylan Mich, an East Village resident who\u2019s been coming here since 2018. Before big playoff games, Mich usually comes an hour early and easily finds a bar seat. But tonight he\u2019s brought his girlfriend and his dad, and it\u2019s standing-room only in the crowd of 75.<\/p>\n
Standings, where the walls are papered with New York Post headlines and sports ephemera from practically every collegiate and East Coast sports team, is frequently on any one of the city\u2019s \u201cbest sports bars in New York\u201d lists (in fact, this magazine called it the absolute best overall<\/a> in 2017) despite the fact that it has only 20 or so available seats. This is the first thing you\u2019ll notice when you enter: It is small. When it\u2019s busy, getting a drink involves wading through a few rows of people. Even when the air-conditioning is cranking, my friends and I are still dripping in sweat. Sure, there are TVs tucked between the stadium towels and game-day posters on the wall, but the screens aren\u2019t that big, and the volume is never loud enough to hear what the commentators are actually saying. There\u2019s no liquor or wine \u2014 just a few beers on tap, with one bartender working the shift. Some might call the conditions unbearable, especially when it\u2019s packed, like it is tonight. But the scene here at Standings represents the very best thing about watching sports in New York bars: the messy, sweaty revelry of screaming at a small corner TV with your fellow fans.<\/p>\n This Knicks playoff run has revealed how unprepared the city is for its growing fandom. The other week, the city banned watch parties<\/a> outside Madison Square Garden because the crowds were getting too rowdy. (Then on Wednesday, the city reversed<\/a> that rule.) Knicks watch parties are now being hosted in places where you\u2019d never think to watch Jalen Brunson score midrange buckets: During the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks hosted one at Radio City Music Hall<\/a>; Elsewhere<\/a>, the Bushwick nightclub, hosted a Finals watch party with a DJ set; private cinemas<\/a> like Metro are offering screening events for games. Recliners and love seats, anyone?<\/p>\n But even with the expanded array of more spacious options, the New Yorkers at Standings are opting for the classic sports-bar experience. \u201cWe\u2019re not comfortable, but it\u2019s comfortable in the sense that we\u2019re all doing it,\u201d says Nick Dyette from Laurelton, who showed up with a few friends about a half-hour before game time. \u201cPeople are willing to spend their whole evening standing for this.\u201d Mich also appreciated its small size. \u201cYou get to know people around you, you get to know the staff really well,\u201d he said. It was the same at the Commissioner in Park Slope, where every barstool and inch of space was spoken for and fans spilled out of the bar onto Fifth Avenue. At 99 Rogers in Crown Heights, people had no choice but to watch from the sidewalk. In the West Village, the crowds at Houston Hall made the expansive beer hall feel more like a packed neighborhood pub, while at Locksmith Bar in Washington Heights, fans were shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/a><\/p>\n All of these scenes are a reminder that the city hasn\u2019t experienced a collective sports viewership like this in a long time, because the Knicks just haven\u2019t been this good in \u2026 forever. Another cause for the spike in crowds: The Knicks are bringing together disparate fandoms with otherwise split allegiances, a single point of commonality between Yankees\/Mets, Giants\/Jets, and Rangers\/Islanders fans. (Sorry, the Nets were never New York\u2019s team.)<\/p>\n A few minutes into the second quarter, I step outside to find a group of women waiting to enter the bar. Sahiti Kota, who lives in Alphabet City, says she\u2019s been waiting outside with her friends for 20 minutes to enter. \u201cWe were at Rocco\u2019s before. We couldn\u2019t get in there either. Our friend is inside here at Standings, but the bouncer said \u2018no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n After halftime, Kim Bacon, who came all the way to Standings from the Upper East Side, tells me that she had to buy a round for someone\u2019s mother who hadn\u2019t been able to get the bartender\u2019s attention.\u00a0 After a while, the woman returned the favor and got Bacon a beer too. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of a crowded bar. Everyone takes care of one another,\u201d Bacon says.<\/p>\n With two minutes left in the game, and the Knicks trailing by one point, the mood at Standings is tense \u2014 but that\u2019s nothing new for the team or this crowd. Brunson scores two shots that seal the win for the Knicks, and the bar erupts. Kyle Mulholland, the bartender, rings the bar\u2019s bell, and the lights flicker as everyone cheers again and goes to close out their tabs. \u201cSee you all Friday?\u201d my friend says.<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter<\/p>\n A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n