Bars And Restaurants Near Madison Square Garden Embrace Knicks’ Playoff Run

BusinessSportsMoneyBars And Restaurants Near Madison Square Garden Embrace Knicks’ Playoff RunByTim Casey,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tim Casey is a reporter who covers basketball and sports business.Follow AuthorJun 02, 2026, 06:00am EDTNEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 25: Knicks fans celebrate winning the eastern conference championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 25, 2026 in New York City. The Knicks last reached the NBA Finals in 1999, falling to the Spurs, and are seeking their first championship since defeating the Lakers in 1973. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)Getty ImagesFour hours before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals last month, about 20 people sat in O’Brien’s Bar and Grill in Manhattan, across from Madison Square Garden. Still, owners Pat and Mike O’Brien expected the restaurant to soon be filled with New York Knicks’ fans eager to watch their team face the Cleveland Cavaliers.Two chalkboards outside touted that O’Brien’s would have 12 televisions with the sound on during the game and promoted “Brunson Buckets,” where customers could buy a bucket of beers for $35 in homage to Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson. In the window facing 31st Street and MSG, the O’Brien brothers had hung a Knicks’ flag, too, just like many other restaurants and bars that are all-in on the team that is playing in the NBA finals for the first time since 1999.This time of year, the area around MSG is usually quiet, as the arena hosts fewer events and people take more vacations or work from home. But over the past few weeks, the Knicks’ run has helped drive business even as hundreds of fans gathered outside the arena on game days and blocked access to some establishments.“Any night there’s something going on in the Garden, we know we're going to have a good crowd,” Pat O’Brien said. “But the playoffs are definitely a different story altogether. There's just way more people involved.”For much...