Decades of Knicks fans’ unwavering faith is finally being paid back

They stood in lines all around the sixth floor at Madison Square Garden that night. On the other side of the walls, the Knicks were playing the JV version of the Boston Celtics, who would enter the game that night of April 14, 2008, 39 games ahead of the Knicks in the Atlantic Division and depart 40 games up despite playing only two starters.

That was the Knicks’ business.

For the fans, theirs was about standing in these lines, ordering up their entitlement: one free hot dog (or hamburger), one free medium-sized cola (or root beer).

“I’ve been to 20 games this year,” a Knicks fan named James McCormack said. “I figure I’m owed at least one hot dog, don’t you?”