New York Knicks fans can cheer on their beloved team pretty much anywhere in the city’s five boroughs on Monday night — except outside Madison Square Garden.
A watch party outside the team’s home court won’t be held for Game 3 of the NBA Finals because President Donald Trump plans to attend.
A spokesperson for the NYPD said Sunday that the decision was made in coordination with the Secret Service and that
“There will be watch parties at other locations,” the department said. “We are currently determining where they will be.”
A city permit application for a watch party outside Madison Square Garden was not granted, a NYPD spokesperson said.
Early Monday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that a watch party would be held in Bryant Park in addition to events in Central Park and at Brooklyn Bowl. It was added “after the U.S. Secret Service and the NYPD determined that a watch party could not be held outside Madison Square Garden due to the heightened security requirements associated with President Trump’s attendance.”
The Bryant Park event will be free and open to the public, Mamdani’s office said, though registration is required. Attendance will be capped at 5,000, it said.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Monday morning news conference that in addition to the watch party at Bryant Park, hosted by Mamdani, two additional watch parties will be held for Monday’s game — one at Wollman Rink in Central Park and another at Brooklyn Bowl.
Tisch said watch parties outside of the Garden will resume on Wednesday for Game 4.
“These watch parties have become a celebration of New York City itself,” Mamdani said in a statement.
There will be a security perimeter around Madison Square Garden Monday night running from West 30th Street to West 35th Street, between Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue, Tisch said. Seventh and Eighth Avenues will also be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic starting at 4 p.m.
“Starting at 4 p.m. no one will be allowed inside the secured area unless they have a ticket to the game, a train ticket, they are going to a business inside the area, they have credentials, or they have some other authorized reason to be there,” Tisch said. Those entering the area will be screened by the NYPD.
The secure area will also be intact after the game, and Tisch asked those without tickets to stay away from the area. Security will remain even if the president should choose to leave the game early, Tisch said.
Those who have been lucky enough to secure a seat for Game 3 will not be allowed to bring bags into the arena, and must go through a TSA-style screening before entering, said Matt McColl from the Secret Service.
Trump told reporters last month after the Knicks advanced to the Finals — the first time since 1999 — that he had been invited to attend their home games.
Trump says he may attend Knicks' NBA Finals game
“Great to see it,” Trump said. “The Knicks have really, they’ve really suffered for years.”
The team’s official social media accounts announced a series of additional security measures for fans attending the game. Fans were asked to limit personal items as a strict no-bag policy will be enforced alongside a TSA-style screening procedure.
Fans were also advised to arrive at least two hours before tipoff on Monday and to review the Secret Service’s list of prohibited items before entering the arena.
Some of the Knicks’ most high-profile players were asked during Sunday’s media availability how they feel about Trump’s attendance at the game. Karl-Anthony Towns sidestepped the question by focusing on the fans who “earned the right” to see a championship series at home.
“I talked about the word hope. Hope has been brought back to the city, but the word success hasn’t been seen,” Towns said. “We have to fight to bring that word back to fruition.”
OG Anunoby, who was born in England but raised in the United States, said the president’s presence shouldn’t change anything for the men on the court.
“I think he’ll just be there watching,” Anunoby said. “We’re going to go as usual, play our game. Try to win the game.”
The Knicks are returning home with a 2-0 lead against the San Antonio Spurs in an incredible playoff run that’s included back-to-back sweeps of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
Led by Towns and Jalen Brunson, the team has now won 13 consecutive games.
The series is a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals, when the Knicks also faced the Spurs.
That series similarly opened with two games in San Antonio — but with opposite results: The home team prevailed, and New York returned trailing 0-2. The Knicks won Game 3 before their home crowd but lost the next two games and the series.
If the Knicks win the best-of-seven series this year, it will be the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
CORRECTION (June 7, 2026, 8:20 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article stated that the watch party was canceled. A party was not scheduled because a permit application was not granted.
