Knicks fans flock to MSG for watch parties both inside and out
Rebecca Go and the Go family of Williston Park outside Madison Square Garden for Game 1 of the NBA Finals Credit: Newsday/John Asbury
Thousands of passionate Knicks fans gathered outside Madison Square Garden preparing for Game 1, while their team was nearly 2,000 miles away.
The corner of West 33rd St and Plaza33 was a sea of orange and blue with fans chanting, "Lets go Knicks," and "Knicks in Four!"
Ariella Vaakil, 29, of Manhattan, with a cardboard cutout of Jalen Brunson's head. Credit: Newsday/John Asbury
Some fans started dancing the Limbo under a broomstick, predicting a sweep of the Spurs, while other fans carried oversized poster heads of Jalen Brunson. One man on roller blades balanced a basketball on a Knicks championship flagpole.
Fans descended on the Garden for two watch parties: one outside where fans filled the plaza and waited for the game on a large outdoor screen, and another inside the arena where more than 100,000 fans waited on Tuesday to buy $10 tickets online. Some tickets later appeared on the resale market for $200.
Ahmad Kalil, 29, of Rockaway, New Jersey, arrived at 5 p.m. to go to the front of the outdoor watch party.
"This is the biggest thing to happen to our city in 50 to 60 years," he said noting the Knicks' last championship in 1973. The Knicks lost to the Spurs in the 1999 Finals.
"We come here every year and there's nowhere else to be than a Knicks game when they're winning," Kalil said. "We're not the underdogs this time."
Ariana Dorazio and Hannah Wise of Massapequa. Credit: Newsday/John Asbury
Ariana Dorazio and Hannah Wise, both 20, of Massapequa, got off the LIRR and were heading to a watch party near Times Square.
"The energy and the vibes of it all is an amazing atmosphere," Wise said. "Everyone in New York knows how to rally and it makes us proud to be Knicks fans."
Rebecca Go, 43, of Williston Park, and her family came to watch the MSG watch party as longtime Knicks fans. It didn't matter the team wasn't playing at home until Monday.
"We go wherever the Knicks are," she said. "We're die-hard fans and love this atmosphere. Everyone is excited to be here it feels like the players are here."
Go has gone to past watch parties and said the team makes it feel like a real game, with a T-shirt toss and the Knicks City dancers.
"Look around," Go said. "Everyone is proud to be a New Yorker."
Ariella Vaakil, 29, of Manhattan, carried a giant squinting Brunson head on a poster as she prepared to go to the watch party.
"I had to come to the Garden to be around people who get it," Vaakil said. "People love the city and love this team. Knicks fans are loyal and stayed loyal. We know loyalty and believe everybody had hope when the Knicks have hope."
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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