Man arrested for bus arson following Knicks championship win

A man was arrested Monday for setting a school bus ablaze amid a frenzied celebration on the streets of Manhattan following the Knicks’ championship victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, officials said.

Jonathan Strahs, 30, was arrested at his home in Brooklyn and is being charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with arson for lighting the fire that consumed the bus on June 14, just hours after the Knicks secured the championship win with a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs the night before, according to the FDNY.

“This fire, set on a busy street during a night of celebration, put the lives of bystanders and first responders at risk,” said FDNY Fire Commissioner Bonsignore.

The bus, which had been chartered to shuttle World Cup spectators between MetLife Stadium and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, was forced to stop on W. 42nd St. near Eighth Ave. due to the massive crowds gathered on the street following the game.

While the bus remained bogged down in the crowd, surveillance footage shows a man enter and then exit the vehicle at 2:47 a.m., with flames appearing just moments after he disembarks.

As the fire spread, the bus became engulfed in flames. Another vehicle parked nearby was also scorched before firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze, fire officials said.

After FDNY Fire Marshals determined the fire was intentionally set, investigators canvassed the area for additional surveillance footage that ultimately led them to Strahs, according to fire officials.

Knicks mania reached a fever pitch in the hours following the team’s championship victory on June 13, with hundreds of fans skirmishing with police into the early morning hours.

Cops arrested 63 people during the mayhem. The NYPD reported four people shot or stabbed and 10 police officers attacked, with one punched in the face and another hit with a glass bottle.

In addition to the scorched shuttle, fans invaded eight yellow school buses in the middle of the street at 42nd St. and Ninth Ave. Police repeatedly drove the wild fans off of the buses, but without enough manpower to make arrests, would then back off, retreating to the nearby intersection, each time after which the fans again swarmed the vehicles.

After Game 4, cops arrested 56 people in the area between Fifth and Eighth Aves. and 10 police officers were injured, according to the NYPD. Videos online showed Knicks fans stomping on Citi Bikes, climbing street lamps, shattering windows and attacking taxi cabs. One of the injured cops was hit by a thrown bottle, police said.

The same night, a 17-year-old boy was beaten into a coma by an assailant who had been screaming “Spurs in seven!” outside a bar about two blocks away from MSG, on W. 35th St. near Eighth Ave. The attacker, who was wearing a referee-style jersey with black and white vertical stripes, has not been caught.