Madison Square Garden canceled a planned Knicks watch party outside the arena hours before Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday — as owner James Dolan unloaded on Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a fake fan of the team.

Dolan made the shocking announcement Wednesday afternoon ahead of the Knicks’ showdown with the San Antonio Spurs after MSG blasted city government for its decision to set up a security zone around the venue for the event.

“Our hope was that the mayor and the commissioner would change their minds and we’d put the screens up,” Dolan said on WFAN radio as he took shots at the Democratic socialist mayor and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

“They clearly haven’t changed their minds, it’s almost 5 o’ clock so the screens are not going up.”

Dolan said neither Mamdani nor Tisch was experienced enough to handle the major event, leading to the layers of security measures that would make it harder to get into the arena than into Area 51.

“They have never managed anything like this before and it’s like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches coming out the sides,” he said.

He questioned whether Mamdani was a true supporter of the hometown basketball team.

“We’re seeing a lot of fear from the mayor’s office, a lot of anxiety,” Dolan told host Craig Carton. “They’re sitting there trying to say, ‘Well, we’re big Knicks fans,’ but they’re not Knicks fans.”  

“He’s not a Knick fan,” he added in reference to Mamdani.

MSG said the city’s restrictions would leave “the tens of thousands of people who want to come to the Garden to celebrate the Knicks out in the cold,” in a statement.

“We did not think it was fair to just allow a small group to celebrate outside the Garden when everybody else was being shut out,” the statement continued.

Garden officials and the city have battled all week over the security zone that stretches across several blocks near the arena dating back to Game 3, which President Trump attended.

MSG has complained the city was downsizing the number of fans who can revel outside the venue by requiring it to be a ticketed event that would prevent spillover crowds like past celebrations.

Previous watch parties didn’t require tickets or security screenings. 

The parties have been raucous during the Knicks’ magical playoff run, but at times some fans have turned unruly and even violent, leading to arrests.

City officials have argued MSG only submitted a permit application for the party that would hold about 1,000 attendees, which was approved.

Dolan brushed off that salvo from City Hall, insisting, “This is not really about a watch party.”

“We put up two, fairly decent-sized screens alongside and I don’t think you can get much more than 1,000 or so people that will see the screen,” he said.

“This is about celebrating the Knicks at Madison Square Garden at the Mecca of basketball. This is what the mayor’s office and the commissioner’s office is trying to kill, they don’t want the celebration.”

Mamdani, in an X post, claimed Dolan was to blame for the watch party fiasco while bringing up MSG’s permit paperwork.

“MSG requested a permit for a watch party for 500-999 fans. We approved that permit for 999 fans,” he tweeted.

“Mr. Dolan has now decided to cancel the watch party.

“I know this is breaking hearts across our city. But if there’s one thing Knicks fans don’t need permission for, it’s showing up for our team wherever we may be — no matter the block or the borough.”

As the two sides bickered, fans and businesses were losing out.

Knicks fanatic and Big Apple native George Rivera, 48, drove eight hours from Charlottesville, Virginia, and said he spent $800 on a hotel room to attend the watch party.

“I’m upset and disappointed. I came here to honor my dad,” he said, as he wore a custom Knicks T-shirt with his father’s face on the back. 

“We are Knicks fans since birth. It’s very disappointing.”

Molly Wee Pub owner Angela Reilly said she had lost a chunk of revenue thanks to the security zone from Monday’s Game 3.

“I hope we do business tonight,” Reilly said before the game on Wednesday. “I figured once we get home games, we’d be laughing, but we’re not. We’re almost crying.”

“It’s done right now in the interest of security and what’s been going on in the watch parties. I understand to screen people,” Mustang Harry’s co-owner Ian Conroy said.

“If you ask me if it helps me, it doesn’t help me, but if it’s in the interest of security and safety in the city, I totally understand it.”

The same perimeter from 29th Street to 35th Street between Sixth and Eighth avenues for Game 3 was set up for Game 4 with hundreds of cops manning the zone.

But city officials pointed out traffic is now allowed to flow on Eighth Avenue and the large-scale barriers put up for the president’s visit are no longer there.

While there are measures for crowd control, officials claimed the security was more relaxed for Game 4.

But Dolan said the actions by the city leaders was overkill, and insisted rank-and-file cops can handle this without the extra safety features.

“I don’t think that they have faith in their own police force. We do,” Dolan said. “We know they know what they’re doing.”