Knicks no-bag – Ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks are imposing a strict no-bag policy and TSA-style screening as President Donald Trump attends. The change also ends watch parties outside the arena for this game, after the NYPD said the de
By the time the sun set over Manhattan, the message from the Knicks was already clear: for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, come light and come early.
New York is bracing for a packed house at Madison Square Garden with President Donald Trump in attendance. and the team’s security plan reflects that. The Knicks warned fans Saturday to bring as little as possible into the arena. with a strict no-bag policy in place for the game scheduled to begin just after 8:40 p.m. EDT. The team also said there will be “TSA-style screening procedures” when fans enter Madison Square Garden.
They are also setting expectations for what happens if prohibited items make it through the door. The Knicks said there would be no storage at MSG for prohibited items brought to the arena.
Trump is a longtime Knicks fan. and his return to the Finals in New York is a big moment: he confirmed Friday that he would attend the first NBA Finals game in New York since 1999. During his second term, he has already attended major sporting events including the 2025 Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and Ryder Cup.
The security changes extend beyond the arena, where a tradition of large public viewing gatherings had already become a flashpoint for the city.
Trump’s visit “scuttled a Game 3 watch party outside MSG.” The New York Police Department said in a statement Sunday that the decision was made in coordination with the Secret Service. “There will be no watch parties outside of Madison Square Garden for Game 3 only,” the statement said. “This was done fully in coordination with the Secret Service because of the presidential visit. We expect watch parties at Madison Square Garden to resume for Game 4.”.
The idea of watching the game outside the Garden—often with thousands gathered around a big screen—has long been contentious for the NYPD. even without a presidential visit. Heading into the NBA Finals. the city moved to cancel watch parties outside the arena altogether because of rowdy behavior at unofficial gatherings. It later reversed course and granted a permit for Game 1 last Wednesday.
The concerns weren’t hypothetical. After the Knicks beat the Spurs in San Antonio on Friday, more than two-dozen people were arrested as the watch party spilled into streets surrounding the Garden. One woman was accused of punching a police officer in the face, the NYPD said.
For the Secret Service side of the plan, the reasoning was blunt. Matt McCool, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s New York field office. said he understood that with the Knicks on a historic run there would be disappointment from fans. “At the same time, our responsibility is to ensure the highest level of public safety,” he said. After careful coordination and assessment. Secret Service and the NYPD jointly determined that outdoor watch parties could not be accommodated in the immediate vicinity of Madison Square Garden because of the security requirements associated with an event of this scale and the need to maintain a secure environment for protective operations.
For fans who still want a sanctioned place to watch, the Knicks pointed to options elsewhere. Team-sanctioned watch parties will go on at Wollman Rink in Central Park and Brooklyn Bowl, the Knicks website said. Both events required advanced registration and were already at capacity as of Sunday afternoon.
As Game 3 approaches. the message is ultimately the same—less flexibility for the crowd outside the Garden. more structure inside it. The city’s police and federal security planning has narrowed the margin for error. and for many fans. it will mean giving up something that was already proving difficult to control.
Knicks Madison Square Garden Trump NBA Finals Game 3 Secret Service NYPD no-bag policy TSA-style screening watch parties
No-bag? So what, everyone just carries everything in their pockets now.
This is getting ridiculous. First they say TSA-style screening and then no storage? Like people just supposed to throw stuff away at the door or what.
Wait so Knicks canceled the watch parties because Trump is there?? I mean I get security but it sounds like they wanted him to have the place to himself or something.
Trump being a longtime Knicks fan explains it, but the part about “prohibited items make it through the door” confused me. Like if it makes it through then what, they still blame the fan? Also MSG storage being zero seems harsh, do they expect people to Uber back with their stuff lol.