Tens of thousands of Knicks fans descended on the streets north of Madison Square Garden overnight to celebrate the team’s historic win, but the all-night revelry turned chaotic at times, according to the NYPD. The NYPD said 63 people were arrested related to the Knicks game overnight and into Sunday morning, on charges that included assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a gun, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. “As the game progressed and then following the game, the crowds became increasingly destructive, and there were many incidents of incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior,” the NYPD said. A 17-year-old was shot in the foot near 43rd Street and Broadway, according to the NYPD. The victim had to be taken to the hospital by police because an ambulance couldn’t get through the crowd to the scene. Three people were arrested related to the shooting. Police also reported four stabbing or slashing incidents, and said multiple large fights broke out. NYPD said 10 cops were injured, including one who was punched in the face and another struck by a glass bottle.
A number of vehicles were damaged by crowds through the night, according to the NYPD, including five school buses that were in the city to be used as shuttles for World Cup games. Footage from Times Square shows one of the buses engulfed in flames. A spokesperson for the NYNJ host committee, which is running the shuttle bus service for the World Cup games, said no passengers were on the buses at the time and no one was hurt. Shuttle service for upcoming World Cup games will continue as scheduled. The NYPD said the dense crowds stretched from Fifth Avenue to Ninth Avenue. Mounted police officers began moving revelers off Ninth Avenue and redirected people toward Tenth Avenue, according to reporting by Gothamist. Despite the Midtown madness, New Yorkers across the five boroughs poured into the streets to celebrate. The Knicks closed out the series on Saturday, beating the San Antonio Spurs 94 to 90, clutching its first national title since 1973. Shouting, car horns, fireworks and sirens could be heard in every corner of the city as the final buzzer rang. In Manhattan, fans made their way up Eighth Avenue from the West Village, chanting “Knicks in Five,” and singing various odes to the city.
By dawn on Sunday morning, the party was still at a simmer, with young fans listening to music on stoops while police sirens continued to blare. Times Square was still bustling at 5:30 a.m. Immediately after the victory, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would celebrate the Knicks with a ticker tape down Broadway’s Canyon of Heroes set for Thursday. Officials on Sunday announced the parade will step off at 10 a.m. by Battery Park and run north up Broadway to City Hall. Mamdani will host a celebration of the team after the parade, including a ceremony to award the Knicks keys to the city, at City Hall Plaza. Across the city, in places like Crown Heights in Brooklyn and Astoria in Queens, lifelong Knicks fans told Gothamist about the immense joy they were feeling from seeing the team they’ve spent their lives supporting win a championship. In San Antonio, Knicks owner James Dolan spoke to those people in an interview with ESPN . “Hey, New York, I’m sorry it took so long, but here we are and hopefully it won’t take that long again,” Dolan said. This story has been updated with additional reporting.
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