Chris and Susan say a night meant for baseball in New York turned hostile when they were verbally harassed while attending the Yankees-Red Sox game on Monday night. The San Antonio couple said they believed the men were Knicks fans, and that the exchange happened even though they were not wearing Spurs clothing.
Susan said the men spoke in Spanish in a mocking tone, then circled them while chanting, “Knicks in 4, Knicks in 4.” She said the couple had been warned before leaving not to wear Spurs gear, but packed their Victor Wembanyama jerseys anyway before deciding against putting them on. “We were actually wearing Yankees gear,” Susan said.
The incident lands in a tense moment for visiting Spurs fans in New York. Viral videos circulating online showed Spurs fans being attacked after the team’s win Monday night, and the couple’s experience added a first-person account from inside the same atmosphere. Susan, who said she lived in New York for 14 years before the trip, said she had expected to wear her jersey and brush off the noise. “The first time I heard it, I thought, of course I’m going to wear my jersey,” she said. “This is a big deal and so what? I’m just as crazy. New York made me that way.”
Chris and Susan said they had planned to go to a watch party in Bryant Park on Monday night, but found it already at capacity when they reached the entrance. They tried to find a bar to watch the game, but everywhere they checked was packed, and they eventually went back to their hotel. Along the way, they said they saw a Spurs fan in a Tim Duncan jersey heading toward Bryant Park. Susan said she was wearing Meta glasses that could record video and take pictures, and she snapped a quick photo because she was proud of him.
Chris said he immediately worried for the man. “I’m like, ‘oh my gosh, there comes this guy wearing this jersey,’” he said. “He zoomed past us, and he was heading toward Bryant Park, and I was like, I kind of felt sorry for him because he was headed into a hornet’s nest.” The next day, the couple said they saw the same man in a social media video, a detail that reinforced how quickly the scene around Bryant Park had turned from a game-night gathering into something fans were trying to leave behind.
