All aboard for an LIRR first: Riding the train home after a Knicks championship
William West and Rannie Battle Credit: Bahar Ostadan
Fans slumped into their chairs on an eerily quiet LIRR train from Penn Station to Long Beach just after 1 a.m.
That was until William West and Rannie Battle reminded their fellow passengers why they ventured all the way into Manhattan.
“I can die happy now,” Battle said. “My Knicks got the ‘ship, baby. That’s why.”
With die-hard Knicks fans dissing bandwagon newbies, Brandon Balwan admits he’s along for the ride, throwing on last-minute orange and blue this week.
“You can call me a bandwagon fan, I don’t care,” said Balwan of New Hyde Park. “I wasn’t there when Cleanthony Early and and Pablo Prigioni was playing, I’ll tell you that.”
Brandon Balwan Credit: Bahar Ostadan
Jesse Addesso and Faith Sekol rode the LIRR from Penn Station to Long Beach after watching the game at Stout bar in Manhattan.
“I’ve been a Knicks fan ever since my frontal lobe developed,” said Addesso, 24. “Knicks is blood to me, Knicks is family. This win means everything.”
Jesse Addesso, left, and Faith Sekol Credit: Bahar Ostadan
We felt like if there was any time for us to leave our kids with the babysitter, this was going to be it,” said Dani Chase of Valley Stream as her and Ralston Chase wait for the train. “It doesn’t matter what political side you’re on. We’re all together when it comes to New York.”
“It’s an amazing feeling. This is 50-something years,” said Nordi Veszter of Farmingdale. “I’m too young to understand this, but I feel the pain of the people who’ve been here for a long time.”
Maria Lopez of Jamaica, Queens and Nordi Veszter of Farmingdale waiting for their LIRR train at Penn Station. Credit: Bahar Ostadan
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