Exclusive | Meet the Knicks superfans who spend thousands on season tickets, host massive fan meetups and have Knicks Nooks full of old-school memorabilia
Bronx-native, Greg Armstrong, 62, traces his Knicks fandom back to 1973, the same year the team last won a championship. Now living in Middletown, NY, he’s in his 34th year as a season ticket holder. He told The Post that his earliest memories go back to watching games on Channel 9 with his older brother, a Clyde Frazier fan, whose posters covered their bedroom walls.That lifelong obsession hasn’t been cheap. Armstrong said his full-season tickets started at about $2,000 years ago.The upcoming season is costing him $10,000 before playoff tickets. Between the regular season and postseason, he estimated he spent roughly $20,000 this past season alone.Still, he insists the price has been worth it.
Over the years, Armstrong has seen the heated Knicks rivalries of the 1990s, two Finals runs, Patrick Ewing in his prime, John Starks’ famous dunk, Larry Johnson’s four-point play and the 1994 Finals game forever tied to the O.J.Simpson chase. He’s brought his sons to games, had player interactions, received gifts through the season-ticket experience and built friendships in the seats around him, including with one fan who has sat in front of him for all 34 years.In 1999, Armstrong waited outside Madison Square Garden for nine hours for the chance to buy Eastern Conference Finals tickets. Today, his Knicks collection includes everything from a signed photo with Willis Reed and a piece of the 1969-70 championship court signed by Reed and Frazier to other jerseys and basketballs from Knicks legendsThe 62-year-old said he’s not especially superstitious, but he does own enough Knicks gear to rotate outfits at games and make the fandom visible every time he shows up.When the Knicks made the Finals this year, Armstrong watched at home, screamed, yelled, and even got teary-eyed.
If they win the title, he said, it would be “the most special moment” of his life outside of the birth of his children.“I’ve been waiting my entire life to experience this,” he ...