James Dolan abruptly cancels Knicks-Spurs Finals Game 4 watch party at MSG

Thomas Tracy, Rocco Parascandola and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on Jun 10, 2026

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NEW YORK — A scaled-down watch party outside Madison Square Garden for the Knicks and Spurs’ Finals Game 4 was abruptly canceled late Wednesday afternoon, after the Garden’s owner, James Dolan, bizarrely pulled the plug on the event.

Dolan, speaking on WFAN, announced that the watch party, which was to be ticketed this time, was off. He complained that the number of people allowed under an NYPD-issued permit for the event — a maximum of 999 — was too small.

“No tickets were issued …,” Dolan said. “Our hope was that the mayor and the (Police) commissioner would change their mind and then we’d put the screens up. They clearly haven’t changed their mind. It’s passed, it’s almost 5 o’clock, so the screens not going up.”

In response to the entertainment mogul’s accusations, Mayor Mamdani fired back, “MSG requested a permit for a watch party for 500-999 fans. We approved that permit for 999 fans. Mr. Dolan has now decided to cancel the watch party.

“I know this is breaking hearts across our city. But if there’s one thing Knicks fans don’t need permission for, it’s showing up for our team wherever we may be — no matter the block or the borough. Knicks in five.”

The Daily News obtained a copy of the NYPD permit, which called for a watch party on 33rd St. and Seventh Ave. outside the World’s Most Famous Arena that limited the number of guests from 500 to 999 people. However, on WFAN, Dolan defiantly declared, “We’re not about 999 people — we’re about millions of people… No, we’re not going to have a screen up.”

Despite the permit having been issued, registration for tickets was never set up, police said. Police also confirmed that viewing screens for the watch party were never put outside the Garden. Officers will continue to man the security perimeter around the Garden, as planned, police said.

All day Wednesday, leading up to Dolan’s shocking statement, tickets for a drastically downsized watch party outside Madison Square Garden for the hotly anticipated Knicks-Spurs Game 4 were nowhere to be found. The two places to get the tickets — the official Knicks Watch Party page and Ticketmaster — did not provide any way to actually get them.

A post on 311.nyc.gov noting the city had approved the ticketed watch party, said it was open for registered guests.

“Registration is now closed,” the notice read.

But, as confirmed by Dolan, the registration never opened.

Previous watch parties outside the Garden during this historic Knicks playoff run have been mobbed by massive crowds of 6,000 to 7,000 people. The NYPD has previously described the amped-up gatherings as “huge” and “very rough.” This time, hoping to better control the crowd, it was decided to make the watch party ticketed and also to screen all entrants.

Watch parties at the Brooklyn Bowl and the Wollman Rink in Central Park were closed to submissions by Wednesday afternoon. The MSG website does offer a long list of bars where one can see the game.

With the watch parties quickly filling up, Madison Square Garden had earlier ripped Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Mayor Mamdani as “New York City’s biggest party poopers” for planning a massive security perimeter around the arena for Game 4.

The city will have the same “frozen zone” restrictions as it did during Game 3 on Monday when President Trump was in attendance — and was booed by fans.

MSG leadership cried foul after the street closures and cordons were extended to Wednesday’s game, which the president is not expected to attend.

“We have been told that the NYPD will once again implement the same ‘frozen zone’ restrictions for Game 4, which were supposedly to thwart any threats related to the President’s attendance,” the Garden’s statement read. “We now know these restrictions were never about the President — it was just a convenient excuse to restrict how and when Knicks fans celebrate.”

Although Monday’s Game 3 watch party outside MSG was canceled, violence at an alternate viewing site at Bryant Park again left doubt as to whether the city would approve a Game 4 watch party at the Garden.

Up to five officers were injured late Monday at Bryant Park, some by thrown glass objects, according to the Police Benevolent Association, the NYPD’s largest union. Twenty-one people were taken into custody late Monday, including one at the Wollman Rink watch party in Central Park.

The mayhem came as the Knicks lost Game 3 to the Spurs, leaving the Knicks leading the series, 2-1.