More than 60 people were arrested in the streets of New York City in the hours after the Knicks captured their first championship in 53 years Saturday night as celebration gave way to mayhem and violence, the New York Police Department said Sunday morning.
Police said 63 people were arrested in relation to the game on charges ranging from assault on a police officer, criminal possession of weapon (gun), criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration.
Ten members of the NYPD were injured, including one member who was punched in the face and another who was struck with a glass bottle, police said.
“As the game progressed and then following the game, the crowds became increasingly destructive, and there were many incidents of incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior,” the NYPD said.
The crowds in Manhattan were estimated to have grown to tens of thousands of people as the chaos escalated, according to the NYPD.
Some “unruly fans” took over streets, failed to disperse and blocked traffic for several hours. Some lit off fireworks in large crowds, while others climbed on top of light poles, traffic lights, structures and scaffolding, police said.
Around 2 a.m., police said a 17-year-old boy was shot once in the left foot near 43rd Street and Broadway. He was taken to the hospital in stable condition, though police said an ambulance was initially unable to access 43rd Street “because the crowds completely took it over.”
Police said three persons of interest were taken into custody and a firearm was recovered at the scene.
Other violence included four slashings/stabbings and large physical fights breaking out, according to police.
Five school buses were lit on fire or destroyed with bats and people jumping on them, police said. The buses were being used to take people from Manhattan to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for World Cup matches.
Other people shattered windows and windshields of five NYPD cars, hitting the vehicles with bats and jumping on them, the NYPD said.
Multiple other personal vehicles were also destroyed in the bedlam, police said.
