06/10/26 05:57:00
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06/10 17:53 CDT A ?secure zone' stops Knicks fans from gathering outside MSG,
rankling die-hards and the team owner
A ?secure zone' stops Knicks fans from gathering outside MSG, rankling
die-hards and the team owner
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) --- Throughout the New York Knicks' playoff run, thousands of
deliriously happy fans have flooded the streets outside Madison Square Garden,
often invoking a two-word rallying cry: "We outside."
But as the team hosts its first NBA Finals games in 27 years, the city is
restricting spontaneous gatherings outside the famed arena.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his police department have cited a range
of reasons for the ban, including President Donald Trump's attendance at
Monday's game.
Ahead of Game 4 on Wednesday, the NYPD announced it would again prevent fans
from gathering around MSG, unless they were going to the game or had "business
specific to that area."
Instead, the city said it had approved a permit to allow 1,000 fans access to a
watch party outside the Garden --- a scaled-down version of previous viewing
parties, which the NYPD had sought to have canceled for rowdiness, before later
reversing course.
Otherwise, fans need an "authorized reason" to be inside a security perimeter
that stretches for several blocks around the arena. While bars and restaurants
will stay open, they were subject to "strict capacity limits," police said.
Hours before the game on Wednesday, Knicks owner James Dolan indicated the
watch party wouldn't go forward, saying that he had never agreed to the city's
restrictions.
A statement released by the Madison Square Garden Co. also accused Mamdani of
transforming the streets around the arena into a "police state" in order to
"freeze out fans from celebrating."
The measures have also enraged nearby restaurants and bars, as well as civil
liberties groups.
"It's ruining my business," said Angela Reilly, the owner of Molly Wee, an
Irish pub near the arena. "I haven't seen anything like this level of security
in 46 years."
Molly Biklen, the legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, agreed
the tactics seemed heavy-handed. "Crowd control for major events is reasonable,
but historic moments are not carte blanche for overpolicing or excessive NYPD
responses," Biklen said.
The conflict has also focused attention once again on the shaky alliance
between the mayor and his police commissioner, Jessica Tisch. To some, the
security restrictions appeared at odds with Mamdani's broader agenda, which
included improving access to public spaces and limiting how the NYPD polices
major events.
"The NYPD is historically extremely risk-averse to disorderly behavior by
crowds, whether they be celebratory or protesting," said Jeffrey Fagan, a law
professor at Columbia University who studies policing. "The mayor now faces a
difficult calculus between the strong emotions of Knicks fans and the political
risks if crowd control isn't airtight."
In recent days, members of Mamdani's administration have pressed Tisch to allow
some version of the watch parties to go forward outside Madison Square Garden,
according to two people familiar with the meetings, who spoke with The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to
discuss the meetings.
Tisch, meanwhile, has advocated for the security perimeter, citing the need to
control against crowds that have at times become violent and unruly. Some
recent fan gatherings in Manhattan have led to dozens of arrests and several
injuries to police officers.
Following the Knicks' loss Monday, at least 21 people were taken into custody.
The NYPD also said it is currently searching for members of a group that ripped
a San Antonio Spurs jersey off a man while punching and kicking him.
Shaun Geddes, a Knicks fan who runs a popular podcast about the team, said he
had celebrated multiple series-clinching victories outside the arena and found
the vast majority of fans were respectful.
"Then there's a small group of people out there cosplaying as Knicks fans and
doing performative things to go viral on TikTok," Geddes added. "But being
passionate as a Knicks fan doesn't mean assaulting anyone."
In response to criticism about the closure, city officials have noted there
isn't a recent precedent for the position in which they now find themselves.
The Knicks have not been to an NBA Finals since 1999. Most of the city's other
major sports teams play in the less-crowded outer boroughs or in New Jersey.
But when the New York Rangers --- who also play in the Garden--- last won the
Stanley Cup, in 1994, the NYPD took another approach to managing elated fans.
Ahead of the game, police announced they would clear the area around the arena
of potential projectiles, like metal trash cans or debris, but would allow fans
to move freely.
"We expect the fans to be extremely vocal," Allen Hoehl, an NYPD chief at the
time, said at a 1994 news conference. "If they want to go from here to there,
we'll escort them in any direction."
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