Mayor Zohran Mamdani paid roughly $1,000 for a standing-room-only ticket to Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals, using access to house tickets not available to regular fans.
Several blocks around Madison Square Garden will be closed to most people Wednesday afternoon. The city approved a ticketed watch party, though it was unclear whether it would take place.
A self-taught artist, he brought narrative to modern photography with sequences of staged black-and-white images, often accompanied by wry or lyrical captions.
Images of the estimated $8 billion project were released Monday and show a return to hub's original classical style, with a stone facade and rows of Roman-style columns.