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10 videos of fan freakouts from NYC's Knicks fever dream

By

Hannah Frishberg

Published Jun 12, 2026

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Spike Lee sticking his head out of the sunroof of a car while high-fiving people

 

Adam Gray/Getty Images

By

Hannah Frishberg

Published Jun 12, 2026

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No matter what team you’re rooting for, New York will always win in one respect: It is, by a margin of several million people, this nation’s most populous city. It’s also the densest.

That means that when Knicks fever takes hold, it’s not like how excitement feels in every other more car-dependent, sidewalk-free, smaller town in America. It’s mayhem.

Celebrations (and lamentations) are contagious, spreading quickly, transforming streets into gigantic parties, creating nightmare crowd control scenarios for law enforcement and filling the game night air with shrieks that permeate even the quietest, most residential neighborhoods. This has, of course, all resulted in a lot of notably memorable social media content, featuring, among others, Hare Krishnas, Spike Lee, and a robot.

Below, 10 only-in-New-York moments — the innovative infrastructure uses, original dance moves and other products of mass joy that result from great weather combining with NYC’s home team making it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

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Hannah Frishberg

Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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