Ecstatic Knicks fans filled the streets of New York, whooping and cheering and congratulating each other after the Knicks’ first NBA championship win in over 50 years. Local bars, clubs, and pizza parlors were overflowing with patrons (many of them standing) to catch the game as the Knicks battled the Spurs in Game five.
Those willing to pay a cover charge could watch from the rooftop at 230 Fifth Avenue, with the backdrop of a blue and orange Empire State Building. At the watch party up there, it was standing room only, with 50-60 people on the top deck. But the beautiful rooftop’s outdoor screens were only about five feet across, so many gathered around their tables to watch the game from a smartphone.
Every point scored or successful defensive play against the Spurs was met with roars and cheers from the crowd. As the game came down to the last few minutes, the excitement escalated bit by bit as the Knicks gained on the Spurs, finally winning 94–90 in a stunning comeback. As the clock ran out, the rooftop deck exploded with screams, cheering, jumping, and hugging. With cell phones raised in the air, everyone was recording the final moments of the historic win and the crowd’s reaction.
Yelling and celebrating continued outside as crowds swarmed into the street from bars and clubs. As thousands of fans filled the streets around Times Square, jubilant protests grew aggressive and destructive.
Some fans set off fireworks and fired smoke grenades, chanting “Knicks in five!” to mark their team’s victory in the fifth game of a possible seven.
As the celebrations ran into the night, hundreds of mostly young people swarmed a convoy of about 15 shuttle buses in Times Square after they transported soccer fans from the first World Cup game in the New York City area between Brazil and Morocco, which ended in a draw. The swarm damaged two buses, and one bus was set on fire.
Police had fenced off some streets and after holding back for about two hours, officers in riot gear moved in, chasing fans down the streets. Some officers on horseback pushed crowds back, clearing streets around Madison Square Garden, the Knicks’ home court.
An NYPD spokesman told The Epoch Times on Sunday morning that they arrested 63 people. Ten members of the NYPD were injured in the mayhem.
Many of the midtown Manhattan streets surrounding Madison Square Garden were lined with police barricades and frozen. Foot traffic from Eighth Avenue to Broadway was tightly controlled for at least 10 blocks from 28th up past 34th street for Game 5, with five to 10 police officers at each corner of an intersection.
Game five coincided with the official start of World Cup festivities in New York and New Jersey, with Brazil up against Morocco at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Throughout midtown, soccer fans in yellow Brazil jerseys or red Morocco jerseys mixed in with the blue and orange of the Knicks fans.
Visitors from France, Ibrahim Dellaoui and Fatira Chabet-dis, came to see their national team play in the World Cup but caught Knicks fever while in New York. Chabet-dis told The Epoch Times that New York was the only city in the world where she wanted to be on her birthday, which is Sunday, “it’s the only city in the world where there are so many nations gathered in one place.”
Reporting from Reuters contributed to this report.
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