Jalen Brunson and the Knicks just delivered New York its first championship in 53 years, and the city absolutely lost it.

As the clock ticked to the final buzzer on Saturday night, anxiety that had dominated the game’s first three quarters gave way to euphoria. An orange-and-blue-tinted fever dream that started with the Knicks’ first playoff game two months ago ended in the third title in their 80-year history. Fireworks boomed over Brooklyn and Central Park. Fans flocked to Times Square and ran through the streets. Outside the Garden, they sang the team’s anthem: “Go New York, Go New York, Go!”

Police officers and ambulance workers shouted “Let’s go Knicks” over loudspeakers in Brooklyn. Strangers shook hands and hugged. In the Lincoln Tunnel, where people were riding buses back from the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, drivers honked their horns in celebration.

What started as a pure celebration in Times Square turned into something way more chaotic when thousands of fans decided the streets belonged to them and nobody else. The rampage kicked off around 43rd Street and Broadway, where crowds overwhelmed the area, making it impossible for emergency vehicles to get through. A 17-year-old got caught in the crossfire when shots rang out during the madness, and NYPD had to transport the teen to the hospital themselves because ambulances couldn’t navigate the sea of people. But the shooting was just one piece of the destruction. Fans went absolutely feral on school buses parked near the 42nd Street subway station, ripping off grills and mirrors like they were tearing apart cardboard.

Some groups climbed on top of the buses and started striking them with bats, while others lit pieces of clothing on fire and tossed them inside one bus, which ended up completely engulfed in flames.

Five buses in total were either torched or damaged beyond recognition. The NYPD didn’t show up until around 2:30 A.M., well over an hour after the destruction started, and per Fox News, rioters also vandalized police cruisers and clashed with officers in riot gear. Four slashings and stabbings were reported across Manhattan as the celebration spiralled. The NYPD said 63 arrests had been made by early Sunday morning, but the investigation was still ongoing.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a championship parade scheduled for Thursday despite the overnight chaos.