Midtown turned into a sea of blue and orange Friday night as thousands of “exhilarated” Knicks fans flooded the streets outside Madison Square Garden after their hometown team won Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
When the final buzzer sounded nearly 2,000 miles away in San Antonio, Knicks nation went bonkers back in the Big Apple with their team just two wins away from its first championship in 53 years.
Chants of “Go New York, go New York, go New York, go!” and “Knicks in four!” echoed down Seventh Avenue and drivers could be heard honking their horns in their own show of support one block away.
The party kicked off hours earlier as diehards secured spots at a watch party outside the World’s Most Famous Arena more than four hours before the 8:42 p.m. tipoff.
“I feel exhilarated,” said Lester Alexander, who equipped with a Knicks flag attached to a broomstick.
“I can’t be happier. As a New Yorker, nothing could ruin my day now, my week, my month, my summer,” the 27-year-old, who goes by “Les,” told The Post.
Les, a Harlem native, already had grand plans for a possible Knicks title.
“I’m gonna propose to the most beautiful woman I’ll meet that night. ‘Cause right now I’m single. And if I don’t find nobody I’ll just marry the game,” he declared.
Gary Charles, 31, who watched the game at a separate watch party inside MSG, said, “we’re literally writing history right now.”
He was amazed at “just the amount of people that’s coming out to just support the Knicks,” adding that “it’s magnificent, beautiful.”
Reacting to the Knicks’ 105-104 victory over the Spurs, Charles’ 33-year-old friend told The Post that “it’s a blessing.”
“A Championship win,” he said, “would unify the city, it would bring the city up in many ways, people not even realizing, you know what I’m saying? Economically, socially, emotionally.”
Randy Horowitz traveled with her two daughters and husband from Long Island to watch the game at The Mecca.
“I am ecstatic,” she said.
“I’m energized. This is why we live in New York. We feel this. No place like New York to experience a night like this,” she continued.
“I was inside. It was better than the team being there. There was so much energy — it was amazing.”
Pals Surgio Urnia, 35 and Ken Lopez, 50, also joined in on the festivities outside the Garden.
“The thing that I love about the watch party is the camaraderie between the New York culture,” said Urnia, a Brooklyn resident.
“It’s beautiful. It brings it back. It’s a feeling I haven’t felt in this city in a very long time.”
When asked how he would celebrate the Knicks winning the championship, he had a blunt response: “I’m quitting my job.”
But that wouldn’t be all for Urnia.
“I’m going to the parade. I am gonna get a new girlfriend. I’m gonna have a brand new life,” he insisted.
Lopez was much more modest.
“I’m gonna take a whole week off work,” he said.
Leaning against the barriers in front of MSG was Nasir Boston, 24, of Queens, who currently works as a security guard but hopes to get into the social media field.
“The Knicks got all of us united right now, all five boroughs including Long Island,” Boston told the Post.
And if they win the championship?
“No one is going to work,” Boston said.
Similar scenes of jubilation erupted across the city on Friday night as Central Park was home to another watch party and bars were packed to the brim with fans.
Knicks superfan and filmmaker Spike Lee was spotted in the city standing through the sunroof of a car, reaching toward a cheering crowd as fans blasted airhorns and yelled into the night, per a video posted to X by ESPN New York.
The Jeffrey, an institutional Upper East Side sports bar, slashed the prices of beer and food from 7 p.m. to tip off at 8:30 p.m. at their 1973 levels — $.73 draft beers, oysters, wings and hot dogs.
The party kicked off hours earlier as diehards secured spots at a watch party outside the World’s Most Famous Arena more than four hours before the 8:42 p.m. tipoff.
“I feel exhilarated,” said Lester Alexander, who was equipped with a Knicks flag attached to a broomstick.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
