How this was built — and how to check it.

1 · What this is

Across two nights in June 2026 — the Game 4 celebration (June 10–11) and championship night (June 13–14) — crowds in Midtown turned destructive after the New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973. By NYPD figures reported in named outlets: five school buses — which had just finished shuttling fans to the World Cup at MetLife Stadium — were “lit on fire or destroyed”; nine NYPD vehicles were damaged across the two nights (five on championship night, four after Game 4); and a yellow cab was smashed in Midtown. Reporters also described “multiple other personal vehicles” destroyed, without a count. Scrap City is a simple question asked of that wreckage: once a vehicle is destroyed, what is the metal actually worth? The answer — a tiny fraction of what the vehicle was worth intact — is the point. Every figure can be checked against the linked sources below.

On attribution: we anchor on the event and time (“after the Knicks won”), not on “fans.” Reporting establishes what was destroyed and when; it does not establish that those responsible were fans, or that they watched the game. No individual is named.

2 · Data sources

No private records are used; nothing here identifies any individual. The piece is built entirely from public news reporting and published reference data.

3 · The math

Every scrap figure is the same one-line calculation:

• School bus — 25,000 lb (midpoint of the 23,500–29,500 lb Type C range) → ~$1,875 scrap. New cost ~$110,000 (midpoint of $90K–130K). Five buses: ~$550,000 new → ~$9,375 scrap.
• NYPD SUV — ~5,000 lb → ~$375 scrap; ~$50,000 equipped (base $45K–55K per Ford's 2026 fleet order guide, conservative). Nine vehicles: ~$450,000 → ~$3,375 scrap.
• Yellow cab — ~3,600 lb → ~$270 scrap; ~$30,000 (Camry Hybrid, the most common NYC taxi). One cab.
• Personal car — ~3,600 lb → ~$270 scrap; ~$20,000 estimated value.

Scrap prices move daily and vary by yard and region; $150/ton is a representative 2026 figure used consistently. We use whole curb weight (a scrapyard pays for the hulk by weight); fire damage does not materially change the steel tonnage. Figures are rounded.

4 · Documented vs. estimated

The piece separates what is counted in reporting from what is estimated to illustrate scale:

• Documented (the headline). Every vehicle in the $1.03M headline is an NYPD-stated count from a named outlet: 5 school buses + 9 NYPD vehicles + 1 yellow cab = ~$1,030,000 intact → ~$13,020 scrap (about 79:1, ~1.3¢ on the dollar). Of that, ~$800,000 of intact value was destroyed on championship night alone (5 buses + 5 NYPD cars). This is the hard core of the story — no estimates required.
• Estimated (on top, labeled). Reporting also described “multiple other personal vehicles” destroyed without a count. Shown as ten typical cars (~$20,000 each = ~$200,000), that would lift the toll to ~$1,230,000 intact → ~$15,720 scrap. The personal-car count is illustrative, not a reported figure, and is labeled “Estimate” wherever it appears — and is not part of the documented $1.03M.

5 · Known caveats

Stated plainly, because credibility is the point:

• The personal-vehicle count (10) is an illustrative estimate, labeled as such and excluded from the documented $1.03M; reporting said “multiple,” without a number.
• New-vehicle prices are replacement references, not the depreciated value of the specific vehicles destroyed (older shuttle buses may be worth less used; we label the basis as “new”).
• The NYPD SUV value (~$50K) is an equipped-fleet cost (base $45K–55K + upfit); we use the conservative low end. The cab (~$30K) is a new-MSRP reference for the most common NYC taxi. Both move the intact side, not the weight-based scrap side.
• Scrap price is a moving market figure; we use $150/ton throughout and note the ~$120–200 range.
• Curb weights are typical published specs by vehicle class, not the exact VINs involved.
• The calculator's per-model weights are manufacturer ranges; a real buyer's offer depends on make, model, condition, and location.

6 · Privacy

7 · Not affiliated

This is an independent civic-data project funded by Carmula, a licensed Queens car-buyer. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or speaking for the City of New York, the NYPD, or the New York Knicks. No individual is named. Every figure can be re-derived from the linked sources below.

8 · Source ledger

Every figure in the piece, with its primary source, a verbatim quote where applicable, and its arithmetic. Estimated values are labeled as such.

9 · Contact / use this data

Questions, corrections, or the underlying calculations: info@carmula.com. The press & embed kit has copy-paste stat blocks and free-to-reuse chart embeds — no permission needed, attribution appreciated.