N.Y. will allow a watch party outside MSG for Wednesday’s Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals Game 1, a “sudden reversal after it had declined to permit such gatherings.” The parties had been canceled after “multiple arrests and general chaos outside the arena last week” after the Knicks won the Eastern Conference title. Tickets for a watch party inside MSG “sold out within an hour on Monday” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/3).
An MSG spokesperson confirmed that the permit issued by the city is “only for Game 1.” City officials said that permits “will be decided on a game-by-game basis” moving forward. Officials said that the change of course happened after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office, the NYPD and MSG “all discussed hosting the event again.” MSG has shown past playoff games on huge outdoor television screens “with as many as 6,000 people gathering” (N.Y. POST, 6/3).
Meanwhile, the N.Y. POST cites sources as saying that President Trump is “planning to attend” Spurs-Knicks Game 3 on June 8 at MSG. Sources said that arena personnel “performed security walkthroughs in preparation for his potential visit.” Sources added that Mamdani “also plans to attend Game 3, although he is not expected to sit alongside the president” (N.Y. POST, 6/3).
