More than 50 years after their last NBA title win, the New York Knicks secured a historic championship on Saturday, beating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in a decisive fifth game held in Texas. Though the final match took place thousands of miles away in San Antonio, ecstatic New Yorkers flooded city streets by the thousands to celebrate a milestone decades in the making for the franchise and the city. What began as a raucous, joyful street party quickly devolved into chaotic violence in the early hours of Sunday, leaving a teenager shot, multiple vehicles destroyed, and dozens arrested in Midtown Manhattan.
Even before the celebrations spun out of control, Knicks owner James Dolan publicly appealed for calm, interrupting a post-game press conference with player Josh Hart to share a message with fans. “We know that they’re celebrating, we want them to have a great time,” Dolan said. “Please be safe. Don’t get hurt, don’t hurt anybody.”
In the hours after Dolan’s warning, crowds pouring out of bars and public viewing parties began clashing with law enforcement in Manhattan’s Midtown neighborhood. According to official statements from the New York Police Department (NYPD), crowds grew “increasingly destructive,” engaging in a pattern of “incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior” across the district.
Five yellow school buses, originally deployed to shuttle World Cup football fans to Times Square after a match between Brazil and Morocco, became major targets for rioters. Photographs from the scene captured revelers swarming, climbing on top of, and entering the abandoned buses to pose for photos before the vehicles were set ablaze or destroyed with baseball bats. Onlookers gathered to capture footage and images of one burning bus as it was engulfed in thick smoke and flames. Police vehicles were also targeted: multiple officers reported rioters using bats to damage car bodies, shatter windshields, and jump on vehicle roofs.
At approximately 2:00 a.m. EDT, shots rang out at the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway, sending panicked partygoers scrambling for cover. Officials confirmed a 17-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the foot. No fatalities were reported in the incident, and the victim was transported to a nearby hospital in an NYPD patrol car after dense crowds blocked ambulance access to 43rd Street. Investigators took three persons of interest into custody and recovered a firearm at the shooting scene.
Beyond the shooting and arson, the NYPD documented a wide range of additional disorderly and violent incidents, including four stabbings and slashings, widespread damage to private civilian vehicles, illegal fireworks set off within large crowds, multiple physical brawls, and repeated failures by crowds to comply with dispersal orders. By the end of the night, law enforcement had arrested 63 people on charges ranging from assaulting police officers and illegal weapon possession to criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and obstruction of government administration. Ten officers suffered injuries in the line of duty during the unrest: one was punched in the face, while another was struck by a thrown glass bottle, among other harm. Rioters threw additional projectiles, including street cones and glass bottles, at mounted police who were deployed to help clear overcrowded streets.
For many fans, the championship marked a once-in-a-lifetime moment of joy before violence broke out. Early in the evening, the entire city embraced a festive atmosphere: emergency service workers chanted pro-Knicks slogans over loudspeakers, strangers hugged and shook hands in the streets, and drivers honked their horns in celebration for hours. “Oh my God. It’s like New Year’s Eve times 20,” Carol Marino, a fan who watched the game at a Manhattan bar, told reporters ahead of the unrest. Mathieu Ogno, celebrating at a Central Park watch party, added, “I’m so overwhelmed. I’m so happy.”
City officials have confirmed that official public celebrations for the Knicks’ championship are still scheduled to go forward this Thursday, including a ticker-tape parade through Manhattan and a formal ceremony at New York City Hall, per an announcement from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office.