The cab driver whose taxi was destroyed in a Knicks mania-fueled melee last week said he’s “lucky to be alive” after the mob ripped him from the vehicle.
Noureddine Bitat, 59, says he has no plans to return to the chauffeuring gig following the ambush outside Madison Square Garden on June 11 — a beatdown he said he was handed just for driving through the wrong place at the wrong time.
“The crowd came and they attacked him. They grabbed him out of the cab. They grabbed him by the neck. Someone punched him in his head,” a translator explained for Bitat, of Algeria, on Wednesday.
“They shattered the windshield. They opened the front doors and even the trunks. They were yelling, ‘Knicks in five! Knicks in five!’”
Bitat recounted the horrifying attack and the lasting mental and physical scars he suffered at a press conference outside the National Taxi Workers Alliance office in Long Island City.
The cabbie of nearly three years was driving down Seventh Avenue at 36th Street around 12:30 a.m. on June 11 when the mob set their sights on his yellow car.
Thousands swarmed the streets of Midtown in a celebration that turned violent after the Knicks rallied from a 29-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs, 107-106. The Knicks then headed to San Antonio and clinched the championship on Saturday.
After ripping Bitat from the car, the maniacs smashed the windshield and several tried to ignite it in flames in a shocking event captured in a viral video.
Bitat’s glasses were destroyed in the brouhaha and he suffered a diabetic attack, which landed him in the hospital, according to Bhairavi Desai, the president of the alliance.
“The next morning, it was hard for him to walk through all the dizziness,” Desai said.
The cabbie continues to battle back pain and vision problems, and is suffering “a lot of trauma” that is preventing him from returning behind the wheel.
“He’s lucky to be alive. A lot worse could have happened to him,” the translator said.
“It’s just that from what happened, he couldn’t believe doing a job like this could be so risky.”
The National Taxi Workers Alliance helped establish a GoFundMe in support of Bitat, who otherwise doesn’t have the means to support his wife and three kids back in Algeria.
The fundraiser so far has raised $60,000, thanks in part to support from rapper French Montana.
“[The support] made him feel like he has another family here even though his own family [is not here],” the translator said.
At least one person was arrested in direct connection to the attack on Bitat, and another 56 people were detained that night for a smattering of charges, including assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief.
Despite the horror, Bitat offered a positive message to New Yorkers ahead of the historic ticker tape parade slated for Thursday.
“He wants to congratulate the Knicks for winning and more future victories like that, but he said he wants people to celebrate in a peaceful way, not the way that happened where his life was at risk,” the translator declared.