A watch party planned for Monday outside Madison Square Garden has been canceled as fans brace for heightened security at the first home game of the New York Knicks’ extraordinary N.B.A. championship run, with both President Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani expected to attend.
A rowdy viewing party held there Friday during Game 2 resulted in more than a dozen arrests. Other recent watch parties have been similarly raucous, exposing an apparent tension between Mr. Mamdani and his police commissioner, Jessica S. Tisch, who has warned that the high-profile N.B.A. games and FIFA World Cup soccer matches — set to start on June 13 in New Jersey — will be extraordinarily demanding on the New York Police Department. Thousands of fans from around the world are expected to make New York City their home base during the soccer matches.
The Knicks have told ticket holders to arrive two hours early, bagless, on Monday as the world’s most famous arena prepares to greet a mayor and a president with polar politics and keep them, and a full-house of fans, safe.
A message posted on the N.B.A. website on Sunday revealed that the Monday night watch party outside the Garden had been canceled. But the same site suggested that celebrations at other New York City locations, including Wollman Rink and Brooklyn Bowl, would continue as planned.
A Police Department spokeswoman said the decision to cancel Monday’s watch party was made in coordination with the Secret Service, which will provide security for Mr. Trump during his visit.
A City Hall spokesman had no immediate comment.
On Friday, when the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs by one point in a nail-biter, a party held outside the Garden devolved into chaos.
Seventeen people were arrested, and nine others were issued summonses for disorderly conduct. A police union leader said that one reveler, who was charged with punching a 23-year-old female officer, also bit a second officer.
“A victory celebration shouldn’t end with blood pouring down an officer’s face,” Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement.
On Sunday, Ms. Tisch refused to answer questions about the watch parties as she marched in the Queens Pride Parade with Police Department officers.
She has said that more than 1,000 officers were deployed Friday in and outside of the Garden, where fans could be seen climbing lampposts and food carts.
Police officers will be asked to work 12-hour shifts starting in July to help manage the throngs of soccer fans, boosting overtime costs and stretching thin staffing levels of a department that has struggled with attrition.
Ashley Ahn contributed reporting.
Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.
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