{"id":1983128,"date":"2026-06-10T18:26:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1983128"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:26:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:26:44","slug":"msg-continues-feud-with-city-over-knicks-watch-party-hours-before-game-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1983128","title":{"rendered":"MSG continues feud with city over Knicks watch party hours before Game 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks aren\u2019t backing down in their feud with the city over the watch party for Game 4 of the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

In a statement released Wednesday, just hours before tipoff, the team criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for limiting the ticketed watch party outside the arena to 1,000 attendees in an enclosed area, while keeping other people on the street away. The Knicks said the limitations \u201cwill turn the streets around MSG into a police state\u201d during the evening\u2019s game against the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Knicks\u2019 victories are for all New Yorkers,\u201d MSG said in a statement. \u201cWe wish everyone could see the games live. Watch parties and public celebrations are a way for every Knicks fan to enjoy this special time. These fans want to celebrate together. They want to celebrate at the Mecca of basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about watch parties; it\u2019s about celebrating wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani addressed MSG\u2019s complaints at a news conference, saying the Garden applied for a gathering of 500 to 1,000 people, and was approved for the maximum amount. The mayor said the security measures outside the arena are similar to those the New York Police Department uses for gatherings of this size during occasions like July 4 or New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe want to encourage every New Yorker to celebrate in this moment, to do so responsibly, and to be looking out for one another through it all,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cWe want this to be a memorable night for all the right reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

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MSG released a similar statement Tuesday night, calling NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch and Mamdani the city\u2019s \u201cbiggest party poopers\u201d<\/a> for putting security restrictions around the Garden for Game 4.<\/p>\n

There were significant security measures in place at the arena for Monday\u2019s Game 3 because President Donald Trump was in attendance. Those measures included a steel fence, limited access points and restrictions on what attendees could bring to the game.<\/p>\n

As an additional security measure, a watch party that had been scheduled for outside MSG was moved to Bryant Park. Even so, that event, which attracted an estimated crowd of 7,000, was marred by violence and rowdiness after the Knicks lost to the Spurs. More than 20 people were taken into custody<\/a>, five NYPD officers were injured and video footage showed people in San Antonio Spurs apparel being verbally and physically harassed.<\/p>\n

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MSG\u2019s statement Wednesday cited outdoor watch parties for the 2025 finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers \u2014 as well as the finals in 2019 (Toronto Raptors versus Golden State Warriors), 2023 (Denver Nuggets versus Miami Heat) and 2024 (Boston Celtics versus Dallas Mavericks) \u2014 to argue for fewer restrictions around Game 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cIssues that happened at the Mayor\u2019s Bryant Park watch party (a city-run watch party) are not related to blocks around MSG nor any other previously run MSG watch party,\u201d MSG said in its statement Wednesday. \u201cAdditionally, there have been minimal problems in other cities where NBA Final watch parties occurred, and they have had successful experiences around those respective arenas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks aren\u2019t backing down in their feud with the city over the watch party for Game 4 of the NBA Finals. In a statement released Wednesday, just hours before tipoff, the team criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for limiting the ticketed watch party outside the arena […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1983128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1983128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1983128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1983128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1983128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}