New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is drawing scrutiny for what some suggest was his use of official clout to score deeply discounted tickets to Game 3 of the NBA Finals this week.
With the hometown NBA team on a mission to win its first championship in more than half a century, Madison Square Garden is the place to be, with celebs and fat cats driving up the average ticket price to exorbitant levels reported to be in the neighborhood of more than $7,500, all but pricing normal fans out of the building.
But hizzoner was able to obtain his tickets in the rafters for roughly $1,000, he said, with sources telling the New York Post that his ticket actually set Mamdani back a mere $750, one tenth of the average cost for admission.
Mandani drops $1,000 on Knicks game 3 standing room only tickets:
“That’s something I purchased directly from Madison Square Garden, close to $1,000 was the price.”
Of course he did. Preaches socialism and taxing the rich while living like an elite. Typical Democrat hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/lrRGtfrV79
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) June 8, 2026
“That’s something I purchased directly from Madison Square Garden, close to $1,000 was the price of it,” the mayor told a reporter of his standing room only ticket to the game, which was also attended by President Donald J. Trump.
Tickets available to the public for the contest sold out nearly immediately, with prices on the secondary market commanding premium prices.
“But Mamdani’s team reached out to MSG ahead of the game and told reps the mayor wanted a half-dozen tickets to attend the NBA Finals ahead of the games this week, and asked for the cheapest seats, according to sources briefed on the conversations,” according to the Post which previously reported that “MSG often sets aside a pool of tickets for VIPs, including elected officials.”
Not only did the mayor’s use of his political office to procure the tickets potentially run afoul of Gotham’s ethics rules but also his carefully cultivated image as a crusading man of the people.
“Mr. Man of the People hates corporations until he needs favors from them for cheaper tickets than any other New Yorker could only dream of,” one Democrat operative is quoted by the paper.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is watching the Knicks game with state lawmakers from a perch that appears to be high above the court. (Photo from the mayor’s office.) pic.twitter.com/pNN8tlSL8r
— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) June 9, 2026
“Sources said the mayor offered to pay for attending a game, but he needed MSG to help set up the purchase, with tickets open to the public selling almost immediately, and the secondary market seeing prices soar to record highs,” according to the Post.
The post cites a “vaguely worded” opinion from the city’s Conflict of Interest Board to suggest that hizzoner might have “run afoul of valuable gifts guidelines for elected officials.”
The board’s opinion states: “Soliciting the purchase of a ticket to a ‘hot’ event would violate ethics rules based on a variety of factors,” including: “whether the public servant identifies his City position or title; whether his City position is clearly known to the ticket seller; whether the ticket seller has matters before the public servant’s office; whether the tickets are not otherwise available to the general public; and the absence of a prior personal relationship between the public servant and the seller.”
“Because of the clear opportunity for misuse of one’s position and because of the complexity of the issues relating to tickets, the Board strongly encourages public servants and agencies to contact the Board when faced with these questions. Public servants who fail to do so act at their own peril,” the board warns.
The first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game, Trump – who’s a longtime Knicks fan – responded to a reporter’s question about the high price of tickets for the game.
“They can watch it on television,” he said. “It’s sort of semi-free to watch it on television. But that’s the way life goes.”
The Knicks went up 3 games to 1 with a record 29-point comeback in game four at MSG, and if they don’t clinch the championship Saturday night in San Antonio, they will have a chance to close it out before the hometown fans on Tuesday with ticket prices certain to go even higher for the chance to witness history in person.
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