New York is never short on sports noise, but 2025 had a different kind of volume. More than the daily chatter, but the kind that spills out of the Garden, down 7th Ave, onto the subway platform.
New York sports in 2025 had a little bit of everything, but the best moments were the ones that felt like the entire city got pulled into the same broadcast. The nights when you could tell that everyone was watching the same thing at the same time.
Here are the 10 moments that carried the most weight across the city this year, counting down from No. 10:
10) Oct. 26: Jets pull off miracle in Cincinnati for first win of 2025
The Jets finally got the 2025 season moving in Cincinnati, erasing a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Bengals 39-38. New York trailed 38-24 with 10:21 left, then ripped off 15 points in the final stretch to steal it.
Breece Hall was the engine, finishing with 133 total yards, two rushing touchdowns, and a receiving score, while Justin Fields threw the game-winning 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mason Taylor with 1:54 remaining. It was the kind of win that changes a locker room fast, especially for a team that needed proof it could close one out on the road.
10) Sept. 28: The Jaxson Dart era opens with a win at MetLife
The Giants got a signature early-season win by beating the Los Angeles Chargers 21-18, and it came with the kind of storyline New York eats up: rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s first NFL start turning into his first NFL victory.
The game stayed tight into the final minutes, but the Giants did enough with timely defense and just enough offense, including a Cam Skattebo 15-yard rushing touchdown. Two Justin Herbert interceptions helped keep the Chargers from separating, and the Giants finished it off with a Jude McAtamney 23-yard field goal with eight seconds left. For a team trying to find its footing, that was a clean, hard-earned win that mattered.
8) Aug. 12: Pete Alonso sets Mets franchise home run record
Pete Alonso hit his 253rd career home run on Aug. 12 at Citi Field against the Atlanta Braves to pass Darryl Strawberry for the Mets’ all-time home run record.
The 30-year-old already held a multitude of records, including the single-season franchise and MLB rookie record of 53 home runs in 2019. He also boasts the most 40-home-run seasons in Mets history, with three, and the most 30-home-run seasons, with six. He has also smashed Strawberry’s record at a remarkably quicker pace. Alonso reached No. 253 in 965 games while Strawberry hit 252 in 1,109 between 1983 and 1990.
7) Nov. 23: NYCFC knocks out Supporters’ Shield winners Philly, reach conference final
NYCFC’s playoff run hit its loudest note when they knocked out the Philadelphia Union 1-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Maxi Moralez scored the lone goal in the 27th minute off a feed from Nicolás Fernández, and NYCFC spent the rest of the night defending like a team that understood exactly what was on the line.
Goalkeeper Matt Freese was sharp when Philadelphia pushed for an equalizer, and NYCFC’s back line held as the Union threw numbers forward late. The win sent NYCFC into the conference final against Inter Miami, and it did it the hard way, on the road, in a one-goal game that demanded discipline for 90 minutes.
6) Nov. 2: New York City Marathon delivers a course record and a photo finish
New York got a marathon finish that felt like a straight-up movie scene. In the men’s race, Kenya’s Benson Kipruto won in 2:08:09, edging out fellow Kenyan Alexander Mutiso by 0.03 seconds in a sprint to the line. On the women’s side, Kenya’s Hellen Obiri took the title in 2:19:51, setting a course record.
The city always shows up for the marathon, but finishes like that are why it remains a global sports event, not just a New York tradition. Fifth Ave. and Central Park turned into a giant outdoor stadium, and the final results were decided by the kind of margin you usually see in track, not 26.2 miles.
5) March 15: St. John’s cuts down the nets at MSG with first Big East Tournament title since 2000
Madison Square Garden has seen every version of New York basketball. On this night, it got St. John’s the way the program wants to be remembered: loud, physical, fearless and finally rewarded. MSG felt like college basketball’s home again when St. John’s beat Creighton 82-66 to win the Big East Tournament championship, its first since 2000.
RJ Luis Jr. took over, finishing with 29 points and 10 rebounds, and he did most of his damage after halftime, pouring in 27 in the second half as the Red Storm broke the game open. Kadary Richmond backed it with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, and St. John’s turned a title game into a celebration in front of a sold-out Garden crowd. The win capped a full-circle season for a program that spent decades trying to get back to this level, and it stamped St. John’s as a real national player heading into March Madness.
4) Nov. 22: Gotham FC wins NWSL, gets keys to city
Gotham FC brought its championship back to downtown Manhattan, getting the Keys to the City in a City Hall ceremony after winning the NWSL title for the second time in three years. The celebration followed a short procession to City Hall Plaza, where the team’s run got framed the way New York likes it: a grind through the postseason that ended with a trophy.
Gotham won the 2025 championship as the No. 8 seed, then capped it by beating Washington in the final, a run that turned the team from a strong local story into a national one. The city made it official by lighting municipal buildings in Gotham FC sky blue that night, which is the kind of visual that tells casual fans, too, this mattered.
3) Oct. 2: Cam Schlittler’s masterpiece sends Yankees to ALDS, ends Red Sox’s season
Yankees-Red Sox in October is already its own event. Winner-take-all turns it into an even bigger spectacle. The Yankees shut out Boston 4-0 in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series, and the night belonged to Cam Schlittler.
The rookie right-hander gave the Yankees eight shutout innings, struck out 12, and allowed just one hit, turning a do-or-die game into something that felt comfortable way earlier than it should. New York did its damage in the fourth inning with four runs, including RBI singles by Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham and a two-run double by Jazz Chisholm Jr. From there, it was Schlittler controlling everything and the Yankees’ bullpen finishing the job. A clean postseason clincher against Boston will always land different in this city.
2) Dec. 16: Knicks win NBA Cup for first trophy in 52 years
For the first time since 1973, the Knicks walked off with a major league-sanctioned trophy, beating the San Antonio Spurs 124-113 to win the NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The game swung in the fourth quarter, when New York outscored San Antonio 35-19 and flipped a five-point deficit into a statement win.
Jalen Brunson finished with 25 points and eight assists, OG Anunoby dropped 28, and Mitchell Robinson owned the possession game with 15 rebounds, 10 of them offensive, in just 18 minutes. New York finished with 23 offensive rebounds and 32 second-chance points, the kind of physical edge that travels anywhere. In Mike Brown’s first season on the sideline, it was proof that this Knicks group can handle a winner-take-all stage and look calm doing it.
1) May 16: Knicks bury Celtics, reach Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000
The moment of the year happened at Madison Square Garden, when the Knicks blasted the Boston Celtics 119-81 in Game 6 to clinch their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000. The margin was obscene: New York led by as many as 41 and was up 92-51 late in the third, turning an elimination game into an explosive celebration for an entire city that has been waiting decades for that exact feeling.
The night spilled into the city the way only Knicks nights do. Fans poured out of the Garden, chanting, hanging off the barricades on 7th Ave., flooding Penn Station entrances, and turning Midtown into a moving block party. “Knicks in six” rang out like it was scripted, car horns took over, and every clip on social media looked the same: strangers hugging strangers, somebody climbing something they probably should not have, and a fan base acting like it had been holding its breath for 25 years. New York finally got the kind of basketball night it deserved.
