New York gripped by Knicks mania as city prepares for gridlock amid World Cup clash

[p]The city is at a fever pitch as the hometown basketball team sits on the brink of an NBA Championship win, pushing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/brazil-I9l9aqLq/morocco-IDKYO3R8/?mid=b5JayTEd"]the Brazil vs Morocco game[/a] deep into the shadows.[/p][p]The World Cup [b]"is going to be fun... but right now, I'm a New Yorker, so we're going for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-york-knicks/WCNO4nbt/"]Knicks[/a], basketball! Let's take this win. And after that, we can think about the World Cup,"[/b] said actor Robert Chen, 32, next to the Brooklyn Bridge FIFA fan zone.[/p][p]The MetLife Stadium, located in neighbouring New Jersey but serving Big Apple-based World Cup fans, will face a major test of its rail link to Manhattan, which has come under fire for its steep $98 price tag for a round-trip ticket.[/p][embed guid="1019172f-92a7-401f-bd48-1e2ca2618ae2" url="https://x.com/nyknicks/status/2065811284147261653" social-type="twitter" /][p]But New York was a sea of Knicks orange as the team closed in on what will be their first title in 53 years if they [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/basketball/new-york-knicks-WCNO4nbt/san-antonio-spurs-IwmkErSH/?mid=pnOhtTOH"]win the clash with the San Antonio Spurs[/a], being played away in Texas.[/p][p][b]"Everyone is kind of craving this victory, and it's excitement in the air... It's contagious,"[/b] said Knicks fan and Queens-based street cart vendor Angel Diaz, 42.[/p][p][b]"We're gonna have to take one thing at a time, and we're gonna do the Knicks first, and then we'll go back to the World Cup,"[/b] added Diaz, who said the city would be "out of control" if the Knicks sealed the deal.[/p][p]Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to descend on central New York for remote viewing of the fifth game of the NBA Finals series, with the Knicks leading the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-antonio-spurs/IwmkErSH/"]San Antonio Spurs[/a] 3-1.[/p][p][b]"For those travelling throughout Manhattan, prepare for gridlock in Midtown,"[/b] Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned Saturday, telling MetLife-bound fans to allow four to five hours for the journey.[/p][p]Police turned out in force for the first four games, both home and away, and officers are expected to flood Manhattan to deter the vandalism that marred earlier fixtures.[/p][p]Soaring temperatures and the threat of thunderstorms could also put a dampener on festivities.[/p][h2]Knicks 'over-shining'[/h2][p]In an industrial section of Brooklyn, the manager of a Socceroof indoor five-a-side soccer arena, Lucas Matuszewski, said that "obviously the Knicks, as they should, are over-shining" the World Cup.[/p][p][b]"It's tough to compete with such a deep-rooted kind of organisation like the Knicks," [/b]said Matuszewski, 24, as children kicked soccer balls on neat astroturf pitches.[/p][p][b]"Basketball is so beloved in the city of New York."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/scotland/fZRU25WH/"]Scotland[/a] fan Graeme Buckingham, 53, a fisherman from Banff, described the level of football fever as "poor" in New York, while nearby a hawker sold Knicks championship T-shirts outside the Wall Street stock exchange.[/p][embed guid="7d1e632b-290a-48b9-bb7e-081ec5255d75" url="https://x.com/nyknicks/status/2065575931603714316" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"I'd expected probably a bit more, a bit more fans. But as you see, it's basketball. They're not really into their soccer, are they?" [/b]he said as he prepared to travel to Boston with the Tartan Army for Scotland's inaugural match against Haiti.[/p][p]Buckingham said that high-profile efforts by Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami, and David Beckham, who played for the LA Galaxy, had failed to win over US hearts.[/p][p][b]"Looking at New York, there was a sign there outside a pub today, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/O6iHcNkd/"]Mexico[/a] vs [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/W2ijYvlr/"]South Africa[/a] - Champions League. They didn't even know the tournament."[/b][/p][p]But there were signs that businesses were bracing for a delayed onset of football mania.[/p][p]Vanessa Whalen, the owner of the Black Bull pub in Brooklyn, said: [b]"I do think it's going to get hectic and crazy without a doubt, and especially at this pub, because we're a football pub."[/b][/p][p]The convergence of hundreds of thousands of Knicks fans with football fans risks transport chaos.[/p][p]While Madison Square Garden is not hosting Saturday's clash, there will be a viewing party for 3,000 fans outside the storied venue that sits directly above Penn Station, the terminus for football fans returning to the city from MetLife.[/p][p]The two fixtures also clash with festivities around the Puerto Rican Day parade on Sunday, and a gig at MSG.[/p]