Mayor Zohran Mamdani is embracing Knicks mania in New York City, but viral videos of San Antonio Spurs fans being roughed up as well as an ongoing dispute with Madison Square Garden over a watch party highlights the difficult balancing act between rabid fandom and public safety.
“We don't do this to your people, we're not going to do this to your people,” said Roland Gutierrez, a Democratic Texas state senator from San Antonio who released a video on Tuesday criticizing Mamdani’s handling of the celebrations.
“We have to understand that we have a common love, and that's basketball and sportsmanship,” he said. “Beating the s--- out of people, that's just not part of this game.”
He urged the mayor to “get your people in check.”
The incidents reveal the thin line between a friendly rivalry and lawbreaking. One video on social media showed a fan in a Spurs jersey being pummeled near MSG following Game 3. Another showed someone trying to set a Spurs fan’s hair on fire as he was swarmed by a crowd.
Spurs fans have not received a warm welcome of late.
President Donald Trump’s presence at Game 3 and extraordinary security measures that cordoned off blocks of Midtown have also added to a vibe shift as the team prepares for Game 4.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was among the players to condemn the fan violence.
"My thoughts of course [are] that we can't forget it's a game," he said. "We're just playing a game out there. I am all for passion, but [with] the respect of each other. It's unacceptable."
Mayors of other cities with passionate fans say preparing for rowdy celebrations comes with the territory.
“When I was mayor, and if the Eagles won the Super Bowl, I was somewhat concerned because I didn't know what to expect,” said Jim Kenney, who served as Philadelphia's mayor from 2016 to 2024.
Kenney said the team’s 2018 Super Bowl celebration resulted in only a few arrests. But in a Philly sports tradition, police grease street poles to thwart fans from climbing them.
“I think you just have to play it by ear, keep your eyes on the situation,” he added.
Mamdani has told fans to cool it. After celebrity row fixture Ben Stiller went on social media to urge fans to “show respect to our fellow humans,” the mayor said he agreed.
“We'll win this series on the court (even if the refs refuse to call a flagrant on Wemby), not by targeting, harassing or attacking Spurs fans,” Mamdani wrote on X .
But the heightened NYPD presence at watch parties has sparked criticism of security overkill. City Councilmember Justin E. Sanchez of the Bronx pointed to images of police in riot gear and accused them of using a “militaristic approach.”
"There are ways to manage crowds that limit risks and remove bad actors and also allow fans to have fun," Sanchez said in a statement on Monday night.
The NYPD has restricted access to the area around MSG for Game 4 of the NBA championship series.
Mamdani’s decision to cap a watch party outside MSG to 1,000 ticketholders and close streets around the arena for Game 4 prompted Knicks owner James Dolan to declare Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch "New York City's biggest party poopers.”
Asked on Wednesday about Dolan's comments, Mamdani said the city had approved the maximum number of attendees requested by MSG officials and that the security was "in line with the measures that the NYPD uses for gatherings at this size."
The mayor, who said he plans to enjoy the game from a Brooklyn watch party, also echoed fans' complaints about the referees in Game 3. "I would say crime is going down in New York City but what we saw the other night did feel criminal," he said.
Some political observers argued that the risk of sports-fueled mayhem is nothing new, but that social media now amplifies ugly behavior.
“It's not that people perform differently, it's just that you have 100,000 more cameras,” said Stu Loeser, who served as press secretary for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In 2009, fans flocked to Times Square after the New York Yankees’ World Series victory over the Phillies. A New York Post video shows people singing, hugging and taking photos. The NYPD appeared to take a proactive approach with rival fans. When a group of Phillies fans appeared, they were promptly escorted away by police.
“They told me it’d be better that I left now instead of inciting a riot,” Alex Middlesworth, a New Jersey resident, said at the time.
