Knicks fans erupt in celebration over NBA championship

Tears of joy outside Madison Square Garden as the New York Knicks won Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which was taking place in San Antonio, on Saturday, June 13, 2026. The Knicks saw off the Spurs in San Antonio, 94-90, to win the team’s first title in 53 years. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times)

By ANDY NEWMAN

Fifty-three years of waiting came to a tumultuous, giddy, whooping, stomping, clapping, chanting, cheering end on the streets of New York City on Saturday night as the New York Knicks’ long-suffering fans erupted in celebration after their team came from behind in the closing minutes one more time and took down the San Antonio Spurs, 94-90 in Game 5, to win the NBA title.

At a jam-packed watch party outside Madison Square Garden for 3,000 screaming people, tears ran down faces and drums throbbed. Times Square felt like New Year’s Eve.

Hordes of celebrants shut down 10th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen. Dancing fans shut down Avenue A in the East Village, too, as a fire truck moved slowly through the crowd to thunderous applause and several people climbed aboard until they were ordered down by firefighters.

A few blocks away, St. Marks Place was a carnival, complete with someone playing a celebratory trumpet out their apartment window. People flocked to fire escapes, climbed trees and scaffolding and light poles, anything to get a view of the spectacle that seemed to fill the whole city.

At a watch party at Radio City Music Hall, confetti rained down from the ceiling. At Wollman Rink in Central Park, thousands of people shouted along with Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York.” In Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, fireworks erupted and fans jumped on top of a yellow DHL truck.

The Knicks were far away in Texas, winning the championship on the road, but their unstoppable energy flew across their hometown. Throngs of fans marched down Fifth Avenue among cars and buses in the direction of the Garden, their home arena.

Outside the Garden, even police officers were jumping up and down in disbelief and joy.

After four games in which the fans in Manhattan sometimes got out of control, police were on high alert to ensure that rejoicing did not devolve into riot. Less than an hour after the final buzzer, police had already confirmed several arrests, and video taken near the Garden showed a police car with a shattered windshield and several people jumping on the hood.

The championship series has captivated the city like no sporting event in years, as New Yorkers who two weeks ago could not distinguish between a jump shot and a baloney sandwich now lovingly recite the names of their heroes — Brunson and KAT and Hart and the Game 4 savior, OG Anunoby, and the hometown kid, José Alvarado.

New York’s sports-loving mayor, Zohran Mamdani, posted a one-word tweet, “HISTORY” and announced that the Knicks will receive a ticker-tape parade and the keys to the city Thursday.

“Through near misses, heartbreak and a hope that every year could be our year, this city never stopped believing in the Knicks,” he said in a statement. “And this team fulfilled that hope with grit, resilience and heart — just like the five boroughs itself.”