The sights, sounds and scenes as Knicks fans celebrated a historic NBA championship
Saturday was a momentous night for New York City. The Knicks — the one professional team that (almost, sorry Brooklyn Nets fans!) everyone seems to root for in a region where professional sports allegiances are otherwise divided — won their first NBA championship in 53 years with a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals.
We had multiple reporters embedded with Knicks fans throughout the city as they celebrated their team’s championship. Here are their experiences.
NOMAD, MIDTOWN AND FLATIRON, MANHATTAN — The streets of Manhattan were being prepped hours before the Knicks tipped off against the Spurs some 1,800 miles southwest in San Antonio.
The mayhem that followed the Knicks 94-90 win required groundwork.
Blockades were set up. NYPD officers stationed themselves across city blocks surrounding Madison Square Garden.
And, most importantly, fans waited inside bars and apartments, offices and event spaces for the final buzzer to sound, signaling it was time to flood the streets to celebrate a title 53 years in the making.
The scene in Midtown Manhattan, on Broadway between 31st and 32nd Streets, was pandemonium. Dozens of people scaled scaffolding two stories high to lead chants of “Knicks in five!” A handful of the most daring climbed streetlights, two of whom ripped a Victor Wembanyama jersey right down the middle before setting in ablaze as the hundreds of fans below cheered.
It was a crowd at a standstill, but not standing still. Seemingly unable to move any closer to the Garden, they did the next best thing and partied in the street.
Music played.
Lovers kissed.
New Yorkers — some native, others transplants and more just there for the night — relished.
A few blocks south, at Broadway and 21st Street, the crowds were less dense, but not necessarily because there were fewer people. They were just all in motion, walking toward the next best thing to Frost Bank Center.
“Where are you going?” I asked one group.
“To Madison Square Garden,” one man yelled back.
They had no idea what awaited them, or the fact that they’d be stopped blocks before they’d arrive at the Mecca. But it didn’t matter. All that did was getting as close to history as possible so that years from now, when someone asks, “Where were you when the Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals?”
They could say “With New York, at MSG.” — Annie Costabile, senior writer, WNBA and women’s basketball
Fans climb atop buses in the Times Square area after the Knicks’ championship. (Adam Gray / Getty Images)
FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — It was just after 11:40 p.m. in Brooklyn, and a dance party had begun on DeKalb Avenue. Laura Ward, a resident of Fort Greene, pulled out a large bluetooth speaker and cued up Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.”
“Hey!” a man yelled. “Can you turn that up?”
“Yeah,” another guy said. “Does that go any louder?”
Minutes earlier, a crowd in the hundreds had gathered around two screens in front of Dick & Jane’s, a cocktail bar hosting a neighborhood watch party. A few blocks away, at the intersection of Fulton Street and South Portland Avenue, a crowd of thousands gathered to see the broadcast projected on the side of a building adjacent to a restaurant.
And just one block down, fans posed for photos outside 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, the production company of Knicks superfan Spike Lee, which sits next to Fancy Free, a sports bar with a spillover crowd.
That the watch parties and celebrations were raging less than a mile from Barclays Center, the home of the Brooklyn Nets, seemed of little relevance.
Ward said she had not seen the neighborhood this joyous since the presidential election was called for Joe Biden in 2020.
“That’s the last time it was like this,” she said.
A few steps away, a firetruck rolled slowly down the street honking its horn. Fireworks popped. “New York!” a man yelled.
“Champions,” another said. “The Knicks are champions.”
Back in front of Dick & Jane’s, a group of young children, presumably up past their bedtime, watched the postgame with their parents.
On the screen was Jalen Brunson.
They all stood in awe. — Rustin Dodd, senior writer, Peak
MD Hossain, the 23-year-old Knicks fan who went viral after Game 2 with his “My mayor’s Muslim / My bagel’s Jewish / My Christian’s Dior / Knicks in four!” chant, reacts to the Knicks’ title in real time.
WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — Bodies upon bodies packed themselves between the intersection of West 10th Street and Seventh Avenue as a makeshift projector filled the entire side of a pre-war West Village building.
The thousands groaned collectively with missed free throws. Phones shot up into the air with signs of life. And as the Knicks closed in on the Spurs for their first NBA title in more than half a century, a string of NYPD officers closed in on the sea of people just waiting to be a part of history.
But as the clock ticked down and the Knicks’ lead held, even law enforcement couldn’t help but look at each other and crack a smile. When the final possession ended, every hand in sight shot up into the air. Blue and orange confetti fell from an undisclosed location. An ambulance sounding its siren and inching its way around a crowded corner resulted in joyous cheers.
Strangers high-fived and hugged each other. Eager young men climbed onto an ice cream truck working overtime. Bodegas immediately flooded with partygoers hoping to stock up on liquor for a long night ahead. Taxi drivers who foolishly remained nearby shook their heads as the streets only filled up further, boxing them in. One man even scaled a billboard atop a restaurant, reaching a vantage point three stories above street level.
Cell service was not easy to come by, but one text made its way onto my homescreen: “Should we be partying until the break of dawn?”
The West Village lost contain with this Knicks triumph, in the best way imaginable. There was an energy of pure elation, and a desire to be a part of a moment New York will never forget.
The city that never sleeps will not be starting tonight. — Gabby Herzig, staff writer, golf
This was the scene at the Wicked Wolf, a restaurant on East Tremont Avenue in The Bronx, as the Knicks clinched the title.
MADISON SQUARE, MANHATTAN — This was probably the most surreal reporting night of my life. I’ve been at all of the Knicks watch parties and games this NBA Finals, and Game 5 certainly lived up to the hype.
The craziness started as soon as I got off the train around 4 p.m. near Penn Station, when people attending a 5 Seconds of Summer concert inside Madison Square Garden and soccer fans preparing to watch Brazil vs. Morocco at MetLife Stadium in the World Cup merged with Knicks fans in a cacophony of sound.
The Knicks fans never let up as I stayed in the secure perimeter for the official Knicks watch party at Plaza33, which was permitted to house about 3,000 fans near the new Penn Station Gateway on 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue. Yet while the watch party itself was loud and full of fans, the surrounding area on Seventh Avenue was the quietest you’ll ever see. The security barriers from Games 3 and 4 remained in place, and police filled the closed street.
The real madness began as soon as the game ended and fans celebrated the first title in 53 years. My group, which included another video staffer at The Athletic, tried to make our way out of the perimeter but were stuck within the barricades for at least two hours as crowds tried to exit amid the chaos. Fans headed in competing directions and ended up running into each other. On the opposite side of the security perimeter, police officers were holding off people who had traveled toward Madison Square Garden looking to celebrate at the Knicks’ home arena.
I have to admit, it felt unsafe. It was extremely claustrophobic. Luckily, we eventually made our way out of the chaos, close enough to document the night.
Hours later, we finally got out of the barricaded areas into open space, and like my colleagues, I found joyful fans enjoying the moment. — Charlotte Carroll, staff writer, New York Giants