Lines, lines, everywhere a line

Hundreds of Knicks fans draped in orange and blue crowded on the sidewalk along Sixth Avenue more than three hours before tip-off.

Some expressed confusion at the airport-esque security line that stretched from the corner of West 32nd Street. Below the Garden at Penn Station, there was an enhanced police presence.

The escalators leading up from Penn Station were cordoned off, and travelers were directed to a West 33rd Street exit.

At around 5:10 p.m., NYPD officers began letting fans through a metal detector at the intersection of Sixth Ave and 32nd Street. Officers inspected fans as they passed through the metal detectors assembled on the closed-off street.

Fans then stood on another line across the street from the entrance to Madison Square Garden. From around 5:15 until 5:30, the line remained completely stagnant.

“Relax, the games not for another three hours,” an NYPD officer shouted.

“You guys told us to get here this early,” a fan shouted back jokingly.

NYPD officers then began screening fans as a “Let’s go Knicks” chant echoed through the street just after 5:30. The line shuffled towards another metal detector that scanned fans one at a time. Another line formed on the opposite sidewalk.

Outside the glass doors leading to Madison Square Garden’s usual security area at around 5:40, hundreds of fans waited for the doors to open.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ