Photo: Adam Gray/Getty Images
Game four of the NBA Finals was supposed to be a return to normalcy for New York Knicks fans. Once again, they would be allowed to gather for a public watch party outside Madison Square Garden, a ritual that was scuttled on Monday in light of President Donald Trump’s attendance at game three.
But the gathering is now reportedly off amid a sudden public feud between Knicks owner James Dolan and city officials around the size of the event and the continued use of a much-maligned security perimeter put into place before Trump’s visit. Dolan broke the news of the party’s apparent cancellation during an appearance on WFAN on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before tip-off. “We’re not even putting up the screens,” he said.
The new round of drama began on Tuesday when Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the MSG watch party’s return, writing on social media, “NEW YORK: We’re back outside the Garden. We have approved a ticketed MSG watch party for Game 4. More details soon.”
But Mamdani’s announcement received strong pushback in a statement from MSG Sports, the company founded by Dolan. It alleged that the mayor and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch were looking to ruin fans’ experiences by keeping the security perimeter from game three intact and called them “New York City’s biggest party poopers.”
“We have been told that the NYPD will once again implement the same ‘frozen zone’ restrictions for Game 4, which were supposedly to thwart any threats related to the President’s attendance. We now know these restrictions were never about the President– it was just a convenient excuse to restrict how and when Knicks fans celebrate,” the statement read.
MSG’s team continued, “These celebrations are part of the heart and soul of New Yorkers. The actions of the Mayor and Police Commissioner, supposedly in support of the Knicks and their fans, are difficult to understand. We urge them to lift these restrictions and embrace the love of the team.”
During a briefing on Monday, Tisch had signaled that the extensive security zone set up in anticipation of Trump’s visit would be staying through Wednesday’s game. “For Game 4, we do expect watch parties outside Madison Square Garden to resume,” Tisch said. “Those watch parties will be managed with pens and screening, and we do anticipate the same security perimeter for safety purposes. We will have more to say about those plans in the days ahead.”
The department confirmed on Wednesday that the secure zone will be the same as on Monday, spanning from West 29th Street to West 35th Street between Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue. But unlike during Trump’s visit, Eighth Avenue is open to vehicle traffic and the tall security fencing placed by the Secret Service has been taken down. Attendees for the ticketed watch party will have to enter from the west side of Sixth Avenue at West 33rd Street.
The dueling narratives on the party continued into Wednesday. At an unrelated press conference, Mamdani confirmed that MSG applied for a permit for a 500-to-1,000-person event and that the city approved the permit for the maximum attendance requested. The mayor said the security measures being implemented at game four are not uncommon at similar events held in the city. “The security in place this evening is in line with the measures that the NYPD uses for gatherings of this size whether it be July 4th or New Year’s Eve,” the mayor said.
But MSG issued another blistering statement, claiming that Mamdani intended to “freeze out fans” from celebrating the Knicks by enforcing a person limit and requiring tickets while also alleging that the security plan will “turn the streets around MSG into a police state.”
Dolan took it a step further later that day, taking aim at both Mamdani and Tisch during his radio interview. “We issued no tickets. Our hope was that the mayor and the commissioner would change their minds and we’d put the screens up,” Dolan said. “They clearly haven’t changed their minds. It’s almost 5 o’ clock so the screens are not going up.”
Mamdani confirmed that the watch party would no longer be taking place as planned but placed the blame entirely on Dolan. “MSG requested a permit for a watch party for 500-999 fans. We approved that permit for 999 fans. Mr. Dolan has now decided to cancel the watch party,” he wrote on social media. “I know this is breaking hearts across our city. But if there’s one thing Knicks fans don’t need permission for, it’s showing up for our team wherever we may be — no matter the block or the borough. Knicks in five.”
