An outdoor watch party for the New York Knicks turned tense at Bryant Park, where fans gathered to follow the team's latest NBA Finals game. While much of the evening passed without serious trouble, the scene grew heated during the game, with confrontations breaking out between some fans and the New York Police Department. By the end of the night, the Knicks had not delivered the victory the crowd was hoping for.
There were three official watch parties for the game across the city. Thousands of fans gathered at Wollman Rink, at Brooklyn Bowl, and at Bryant Park, spreading the crowds across multiple venues rather than concentrating them in a single location. The Bryant Park gathering was one of the largest of these outdoor events.
Bryant Park itself was a change of venue from the usual setup. The outdoor watch party would normally have been held right outside Madison Square Garden, but on this night it was moved to Bryant Park instead. The relocation was described as mostly successful, even as the atmosphere became strained as the game went on.
The decision to move the party followed a security determination by authorities. Bryant Park was used as the alternative location after the Secret Service and the NYPD decided that there could not be a party at the usual spot outside the Garden. That choice set the stage for the large crowds that filled the area around Bryant Park.
Outside the official party space, the streets quickly became congested. Fans jammed the streets outside Bryant Park along 42nd Street and 40th Street, with some climbing onto cars and scaffolds to get a look at the screen inside. Many of them did not want to actually enter the official area, where they would have had to register and follow rules such as not bringing bags, not smoking and not drinking alcohol.
As the crowd swelled, pockets of disorder appeared. There was some fighting, and at one point a person was seen striking others with a tree limb. Some fans got into confrontations with NYPD officers who were working to manage the crowd, and the situation in parts of the gathering became difficult to control.
At the height of the tension, an officer was seen using what appeared to be pepper spray on some of the rowdy fans. Despite the flare-ups, the relocated Bryant Park event was still characterized as mostly successful overall. With the Knicks falling short on the night, fans eventually dispersed from the area around the park and the streets nearby.