They’re dropping the ball on Knicks fans.
NJ Transit won’t change World Cup plans to give Knicks fans a direct ride to a historic playoff home game — favoring soccer tourists over local sports lovers, officials said.
New York City’s on-fire hometown team will host the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden for the first time in nearly 30 years — potentially including a high-stakes Game 6 on June 16, the same day a match between France and Senegal is set to kick off at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
Knicks buffs headed to the game from New Jersey will have to switch to inconvenient PATH trains to get into Midtown — as Penn Station, right beneath the Garden, has been reserved only for World Cup ticket holders for much of that day and NJ Transit refuses to change the policy, Front Office Sports reported.
NJ Transit’s portion of Penn Station will be only for people heading to the soccer match at the Meadowlands for four hours before the World Cup game’s 3 p.m. kickoff, and for three hours afterward on June 16.
The same is true for all eight World Cup games that New Jersey will host this summer, including the much-anticipated July 19 final.
NJ Transit riders traveling to Madison Square Garden for the Knicks game at 8:30 p.m. June 16, against the Thunder or Spurs, will need to switch to PATH trains to get into Manhattan at the 33rd Street station, a spokesperson for NJ Transit said.
Asked if the policy could be tweaked due to the potential World Cup-NBA Finals crossover, a spokesperson said no changes will be allowed.
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The last NJ Transit trains that Knicks fans can take directly into Penn Station from New Jersey will leave at 5:08 p.m. from Newark Broad Street and 5:23 p.m. from Newark Penn, the spokesperson said.
After that, all NJ Transit riders must switch to the PATH trains to get into Manhattan at the 33rd Street station until about 8:30 p.m., the rep said.
“Knicks fans who wish to travel on NJ TRANSIT directly into [Penn Station] will need to plan accordingly,” the spokesperson said.
New Jersey Transit sparked controversy last month over its universally hated World Cup fare hike from Manhattan to MetLife Stadium — which jumped from the standard $12.90 to a wallet-busting $150.
It later lowered the price to $98 with help from “sponsors and other sources.”
Madison Square Garden sits on top of Penn Station, a major transit hub through which Garden State residents enter the Big Apple.
