For thousands of Knicks fans, a dream come true: NBA champions

The city that never sleeps, bathed in a majestic sea of royal blue and orange, roared in collective revelry, as 53 years of pent-up energy was finally exhaled in a moment of jubilation that stretched deep into Sunday as fans searched for ways to immortalize their now NBA champion New York Knicks.

New Yorkers celebrated with pints in Freeport, dancing to Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" and Frank Sinatra’s "New York, New York" in the heart of Manhattan and shared stories about Knicks legends, from Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Willis Reed to Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby, while on the Long Island Rail Road.

By Sunday morning, after the hangovers passed and the third cup of coffee served as a feeble substitute for a solid night's sleep, Knicks fan, whether they imbibed or not, went shopping for hats, shirts and jerseys to express with words what felt virtually inconceivable for the past five decades: New York Knicks, champions of the NBA universe.

"We waited our whole lives for this," said Jillian Metros, a longtime Holbrook resident who moved to South Carolina last year, as she shopped at Dick's Sporting Goods store in Patchogue. Metros was also celebrating her sister giving birth at Stony Brook University Hospital just hours before the big win.

Along the boardwalk in Long Beach, resident Brian McCray said the win brought back early memories bonding with his mother, a huge Knicks fan.

"I cried like a baby," McCray said. "You don't think that sports can be so impactful for you ... until something like this happens." 

And while the merch was flying off the shelves at shops across the island, the city and spots in between, Knicks fans had one more order of business to attend to — a ticker-tape parade through lower Manhattan on Thursday.

The parade, a first for the Knicks and their faithful despite the team's two previous championships, will start at 10 a.m. by Battery Park and travel north along Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes before ending at City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani will present the team with keys to a city whose heart they'd secured long ago.

Dancing in the streets

Knicks fans may need those next few days to catch their breath after the roller-coaster ride of the last few weeks and months.

Moments after the final whistle in San Antonio, and as a giant arena scoreboard declared the Knicks 94-90 victors over the Spurs to end the series in five games — a so-called 'gentlemen's sweep' — an eruption of merriness broke out from Amagansett Square to Bryant Park.

Tens of thousands poured into the streets near Greeley Square Park in midtown, some climbing traffic lights to do pullups, while wearing Jaylen Brunson, Josh Hart or throwback Patrick Ewing jerseys. Others roamed shirtless through the streets.

Some tore or set fire to jerseys bearing the name of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, and police arrested a man in a Spiderman suit wearing a Knicks jersey who'd scaled a traffic pole. The crowd, many lubricated from more than a few adult beverages, chanted "Free Spidey."

In Times Square, dozens mounted buses and cars, creating traffic gridlock and headaches for law enforcement

On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, crowds emptied onto the streets chanting "Let’s Go Knicks." Cars blared their horns, fireworks were shot off into the night and a pack of motorcycles, 30-40 strong, roared down Broadway.

At times, the party got out of hand. A 17-year-old was shot in the foot at 43rd Street and Broadway, police said. Elsewhere, school buses were lit on fire and police made 63 arrests, authorities said.

The vast majority, however, basked in the joy of an end to more than half a century of futility. 

On a LIRR train heading back to Long Beach late Saturday night, Jesse Addesso, 24, said he'd been "a Knicks fan ever since my frontal lobe developed. ... Knicks is blood to me, Knicks is family. This win means everything."

'I can die happy'

At a watch party in Amagansett attended by close to 1,000 people, young fans who’d never experienced a Knicks championship hugged one another and shouted into the night, while veterans basked in the glow.

"It’s a long wait, but it’s sweet," said Jamie Grifo, 70, who was in 11th grade the last time the Knicks won a championship.

Grifo, of Manhattan, now a professor and program director of the NYU Langone Fertility Center at NYU Medical Center, said he’d been a fan since he was 5.

"You just keep hoping each year, each year, each year," he said. "You think maybe this is the year. And guess what? This is the year!"

At a watch party at Prime on the Mile, a restaurant on Freeport’s Nautical Mile, Tunishia Martinez, 40, from Jamaica, Queens, wept as she thought of her father and brother, devoted fans who were not alive to take in the win.

"The team just hugged us all," she said.

Shawn Page, 56, of Merrick,  said the win would "bring a lot of people closer and again, give a sense of unity and just make everybody feel like how New York used to feel."

By early Sunday morning, an LIRR train shuttling fans back to Long Beach was finally quieting down, as sweaty fans slumped into their seats just after 1 a.m. That was until William West and Rannie Battle reminded fellow passengers about what had brought them all together.

"I can die happy now," Battle said. "My Knicks got the 'ship, baby. That’s why."

'We couldn't sleep'

Hours after the game clock ticked down to zero, fervent Knicks found a new way to unleash their energy: shopping.

Long lines formed outside Dick's Sporting Goods stores across the island, selling commemorative merch.

Ray Ramirez and his daughter Veronica were among those up early searching for championship gear at the Dick's location at Roosevelt Field mall.

"We couldn't sleep last night," he said. "We had to come."

Sleep was a sacrifice Denise Washington of Roosevelt was also willing to make after decades as a superfan and season ticket holder.

"I was so nervous," Washington said outside the mall as she recalled her game-watching ritual from a night earlier. "I was pacing back and forth."

At Dick’s in Patchogue, fans bought Knicks lanyards, hats, water bottles and shot glasses.

Even those who rarely paid attention to the NBA said they were drawn in by the Knicks’ magic.

"I'm not a basketball fan," said Karen Triolo of Holtsville. "But I watched every game. It was awesome. They played so exciting right down to the last minutes."

Other Knicks fans spent their Sunday morning in church, whispering thanks for a prayer finally answered and recalling a moment that they nearly missed.

Outside St. Lawrence the Martyr Roman Catholic Church in Sayville, Ken Anziano of Sayville admitted that he'd fallen asleep with about 10 minutes left in Saturday night’s game, the Knicks still well behind. 

"I woke up at the end [with one minute to go] and I was, ‘oh my god,’" he said, of the Knicks, who'd battled back to take the lead. "Those fourth-quarter comebacks. You gotta stay awake for the fourth quarter."

'Riding that energy'

At Citi Field Sunday, where the Mets swamped the Atlanta Braves by a score of 8-1, there were more Knicks jerseys spotted than those of the hometown Amazins'. Highlights of the Knicks win were featured between innings on the video scoreboard to thunderous applause.

Back in Manhattan, the NBA Store on 5th Avenue quickly sold out of Knicks jerseys, with fans turning to street vendors and newsstands for their retail needs.

Babu Murshad, 48, who rents a newsstand in Times Square, said he’d amassed 5,000 "Knicks 2026 Champions" T-shirts but they were likely to sell out in a few days.

"I need more, maybe," said Murshad, a Brooklynite originally from Bangladesh. "It’s very hard to get the jersey."

On 5th Avenue, George Foy, 40, of Queens was one of many Puerto Rican Day paradegoers sporting both a Knicks jersey and a Puerto Rican flag, which he tied around his shoulders like a cape.

"I had to wear my Knicks jersey, my Knicks hat with my Puerto Rican stuff," he said of the parade. " ... It's absolutely phenomenal. Riding that energy has been awesome."