Vaccinated Knicks Fans To Get Half Of MSG Playoff Seats: Cuomo

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Half of the available seats in Madison Square Garden will be reserved for vaccinated fans during the Knicks' upcoming playoff run, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

The state policy will require at least 50 percent of seats to be set aside for people who have gotten their shots, but the teams could raise that threshold even higher if they so choose, Cuomo said.

"You can go to 100 percent vaccinated," Cuomo said during Monday's news conference, held onstage at Radio City Music Hall. "We want to encourage people to get vaccinated."

The same 50-percent policy will be in effect at the Barclays Center for the Brooklyn Nets' playoff games, Cuomo said. Knicks owner James Dolan said the 19,800-seat Garden could host as many as 13,000 fans for next week's playoff games, under new state rules.

Unvaccinated fans, meanwhile, will be seated in their own section and subjected to a six-foot social distancing rule and a face-mask requirement.

Cuomo on Monday also announced that Radio City would host the closing night of the Tribeca Film Festival on June 19. Ticketing for that event will be 100 percent vaccinated, Cuomo said, allowing the auditorium to be open at full capacity with no masks.

After years of futility, the Knicks have clinched a spot in this year's playoffs, with their Sunday win helping them secure home-court advantage for their first-round matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.

That series will begin sometime next week — as will the Nets' first-round series against a not-yet-determined opponent. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday for the general public, Dolan said.

The governor was mum on which of the two teams he would pull for in the playoffs.

"I’m going to root for New York, just so you know," he told reporters.