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A man on roller skates dressed head-to-toe in Knicks orange and blue spins two basketballs: one on the fingers of his left hand, the other atop the unmistakable red of a “Make America Great Again” flag mounted on a white pole.
Across the street, no more than 30 yards away, chants for former Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin erupt from The Rutherford’s rooftop bar. Lin is one of several guests of honor arriving hours before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden.
No guest is more polarizing than Donald Trump.
The 45th and 47th President of the United States, a Queens native and longtime friend of Knicks owner James Dolan, is expected inside The Garden as the Knicks move within arm’s reach of ending New York City’s 53-year championship drought.
On one corner of One Penn Plaza, Secret Service agents explain there will be no re-entry once credentialed personnel enter the secure perimeter. On the opposite corner, a herd of schoolchildren swarms a local television reporter.
Three words echo through Midtown Manhattan.
“KNICKS IN FOUR!”
The chant bounces off office buildings, train stations and arena walls.
Below them, above the tunnels connecting Penn Station to the arteries of the five boroughs, police barricades funnel pedestrians into narrow pathways. Officers stand watch beside escalators leading to the Garden’s main entrance. Three blue barricades cut-off the entrance. A black fence separates the roller-skating showman from the credential checkpoints, the vetted from the unvetted, those fortunate enough to witness the first NBA Finals game in New York City in 27 years and those left outside hoping to see history unfold, yearning for a team they can, at long last, call NBA champions.
Even the city’s flagship Post Office across the street has become part of the security footprint. Yellow tape blocks entrances. Police presence has multiplied. One fan walks through the crowd wearing sunglasses and carrying a life-sized portrait of Jalen Brunson.
Only 24 hours earlier, Jake Epstein, a 22-year-old Knicks fan from East Hampton, N.Y., spent roughly 12 hours seated at the corner of 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue repeating “Jalen Brunson” 100,000 times on a livestream.
By Monday afternoon, the NYPD announced portions of Midtown would be locked down entirely.
“No one will be allowed inside the secure area unless you have a ticket to the game, a train ticket, are going to a business inside the arena, have credentials, or have some other authorized reason to be there,” the department posted on X.
An ESPN reporter said on live television that Secret Service agents immediately descended when an AirPod accidentally fell from his ear. Media entrances were split into separate checkpoints. Bags were searched by hand. Credential holders were wanded before being allowed through security.
The President isn’t the only political figure making the pilgrimage.
Newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani purchased a standing-room-only ticket directly from Madison Square Garden. The celebrities have become employees: Fat Joe and Jadakiss took over Sunday’s practice-day press conference. Actor Ben Stiller, who has become something of the Knicks’ unofficial documentarian throughout this playoff run, arrived hours before tipoff. So did everybody else.
By late afternoon, the crowd outside looked less like the buildup to a basketball game and more like a city preparing for a national event.
To the Knicks, this is supposed to be just another game. The next game. Nothing to get too high or too low about.
For New York City, Monday was anything but routine.
Madison Square Garden was no longer an entertainment venue. For a few hours, it became the center of the sports world, the political world and New York itself — all before a single ball had been tipped.
Continue reading...
Across the street, no more than 30 yards away, chants for former Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin erupt from The Rutherford’s rooftop bar. Lin is one of several guests of honor arriving hours before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden.
No guest is more polarizing than Donald Trump.
The 45th and 47th President of the United States, a Queens native and longtime friend of Knicks owner James Dolan, is expected inside The Garden as the Knicks move within arm’s reach of ending New York City’s 53-year championship drought.
On one corner of One Penn Plaza, Secret Service agents explain there will be no re-entry once credentialed personnel enter the secure perimeter. On the opposite corner, a herd of schoolchildren swarms a local television reporter.
Three words echo through Midtown Manhattan.
“KNICKS IN FOUR!”
The chant bounces off office buildings, train stations and arena walls.
Below them, above the tunnels connecting Penn Station to the arteries of the five boroughs, police barricades funnel pedestrians into narrow pathways. Officers stand watch beside escalators leading to the Garden’s main entrance. Three blue barricades cut-off the entrance. A black fence separates the roller-skating showman from the credential checkpoints, the vetted from the unvetted, those fortunate enough to witness the first NBA Finals game in New York City in 27 years and those left outside hoping to see history unfold, yearning for a team they can, at long last, call NBA champions.
Even the city’s flagship Post Office across the street has become part of the security footprint. Yellow tape blocks entrances. Police presence has multiplied. One fan walks through the crowd wearing sunglasses and carrying a life-sized portrait of Jalen Brunson.
Only 24 hours earlier, Jake Epstein, a 22-year-old Knicks fan from East Hampton, N.Y., spent roughly 12 hours seated at the corner of 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue repeating “Jalen Brunson” 100,000 times on a livestream.
By Monday afternoon, the NYPD announced portions of Midtown would be locked down entirely.
“No one will be allowed inside the secure area unless you have a ticket to the game, a train ticket, are going to a business inside the arena, have credentials, or have some other authorized reason to be there,” the department posted on X.
An ESPN reporter said on live television that Secret Service agents immediately descended when an AirPod accidentally fell from his ear. Media entrances were split into separate checkpoints. Bags were searched by hand. Credential holders were wanded before being allowed through security.
The President isn’t the only political figure making the pilgrimage.
Newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani purchased a standing-room-only ticket directly from Madison Square Garden. The celebrities have become employees: Fat Joe and Jadakiss took over Sunday’s practice-day press conference. Actor Ben Stiller, who has become something of the Knicks’ unofficial documentarian throughout this playoff run, arrived hours before tipoff. So did everybody else.
By late afternoon, the crowd outside looked less like the buildup to a basketball game and more like a city preparing for a national event.
To the Knicks, this is supposed to be just another game. The next game. Nothing to get too high or too low about.
For New York City, Monday was anything but routine.
Madison Square Garden was no longer an entertainment venue. For a few hours, it became the center of the sports world, the political world and New York itself — all before a single ball had been tipped.
Continue reading...
