The Knicks will hold a watch party with 3,000 fans outside Madison Square Garden for Game 5 of the N.B.A. finals on Saturday after skipping one for the previous game because of a dispute between the Garden’s owner and the city over heightened security rules.
The Knicks have won three games in the best-of-seven championship series against the San Antonio Spurs and could clinch the title on Saturday night. It would be the team’s first championship in more than 50 years.
The frenzy over the team’s success has resulted in dozens of arrests and some injuries to police officers and several fans, though most of the celebrations across the city have remained largely calm. For Games 3 and 4, which were held at the Garden, the Police Department set up a so-called frozen zone that stretched for blocks around the arena, requiring fans and others going to Penn Station and businesses within the zone to be screened at checkpoints.
Game 5 will coincide with several other high-traffic events in the city on Saturday night, including a World Cup game at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and a concert inside Madison Square Garden.
As with previous games, beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Police Department will create a frozen zone outside the arena, from 29th to 35th Streets between Sixth and Eighth Avenues. The game, which is in San Antonio, begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Here’s what else to know.
How can I go to an official watch party for Game 5?
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Plaza33: The watch party outside the Garden requires tickets. Registration begins here at 10 a.m. Saturday. You have to be in place at the party by 8:30 p.m.
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Radio City Music Hall: Tickets for the party are $10, to benefit the team’s Garden of Dreams Foundation. They go on sale here at 10 a.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.
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Wollman Rink in Central Park: This party is free, but you must register here, starting at 10 a.m. Gates open at 7 p.m.
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LinkNYC: More than 100 LinkNYC kiosks around the city will be streaming Game 5. In a statement, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the kiosks would “turn our sidewalks into watch parties and our streets into celebrations. Knicks in Five.”
The Scene Outside the Garden can be Chaotic
New Yorkers in all five boroughs have watched with glee as the Knicks have inched toward their first Championship title in decades over the past two weeks, but the elation has sometimes turned chaotic.
Some people attending watch parties outside Madison Square Garden and elsewhere in Midtown have smashed the windshields of taxis and police cars, torn trees from the ground and fought one another.
On Wednesday night, following a historic comeback from the Knicks during Game 4, the police took 56 people into custody after thousands of people swarmed the streets around the Garden. A 17-year-old boy who got into an argument over the game was attacked by a group of people, suffering a seizure and falling into a brief coma, according to the police.
A Dispute Between the Garden and the City
Hours before tipoff on Wednesday, James L. Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, canceled a watch party outside Madison Square Garden, intensifying a feud between the Garden and the city’s leaders.
The city had approved a permit for a 1,000-person party outside the arena on Wednesday night, after the Garden requested attendance for up to 999 people, city officials said. But just before the game, Mr. Dolan announced that the party was off because the city had not allowed a larger event.
In a radio interview, Mr. Dolan, a friend of President Trump’s, blamed Mr. Mamdani, and the city’s police commissioner, Jessica S. Tisch.
The mayor, in turn, announced that LinkNYC kiosks across the city were streaming the game. “When James Dolan cancels the watch party outside MSG, we bring the watch party to you,” he wrote on social media.
Security Plans
In addition to the watch party, the city is bracing for multiple large-scale events on Saturday, which are expected to bring tens of thousands of people to the area, the police said.
Starting at 4 p.m., the Police Department will close off several blocks around Madison Square Garden. People attending the day’s events can enter through one of four access points, but the area will remain closed to anyone without a ticket or another legitimate reason to be there, the department said.
Those going to the Knicks watch party will be allowed to enter at screening points from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., but will be barred from bringing bags, backpacks or alcohol.
People traveling through Penn Station to the World Cup match in New Jersey on Saturday, where Brazil and Morocco will face off, must enter at Sixth Avenue and 32nd Street, the police said. Those attending the Saturday night concert at the Garden, where 5 Seconds of Summer will play at 8 p.m., can enter through any of the four screening points.
The access points to the frozen zone are:
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Sixth Avenue at 33rd Street
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Sixth Avenue at 32nd Street (the only entry point for FIFA World Cup screening)
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Eighth Avenue at 33rd Street (no watch party access permitted at this location)
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Eighth Avenue at 30th Street (no watch party access permitted at this location)
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