Key Points
- French Montana initiated a GoFundMe for Noureddine Bitat, a 59-year-old cab driver attacked by a mob after the Knicks' Game 4 win.
- Fans forced Bitat from his taxi, punched him in the head, and destroyed his vehicle near Madison Square Garden.
- One suspect, Saul Vargas, 21, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief; two more are sought.
- Bitat, an Algerian immigrant, was hospitalized and is considering quitting his job.
The Knicks' championship celebrations have a human cost, and French Montana is trying to cover part of it. After a viral video showed a mob of fans destroying a yellow cab and attacking its driver during the post-Game 4 celebrations on June 10, the rapper posted the footage on X and wrote: "Somebody find him for me so we can help him get back on his feet."
What happened
Noureddine Bitat, a 59-year-old Algerian immigrant who has driven a cab for just over two years, was at the end of a 13-hour shift near 36th Street and Seventh Avenue — blocks from Madison Square Garden — when a mob of celebrating fans swarmed his leased 2026 Toyota Sienna. They opened the doors and trunk, forced him out, and punched him in the head. Fans then climbed on the roof, stomped the hood, shattered the windshield, and destroyed the meter. The attack happened amid a wave of post-title violence that saw approximately 10,000 people flood Midtown, resulting in 63 arrests and 10 injured NYPD officers across the most-watched Finals in a generation.
The response
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance identified Bitat as a union member and connected French Montana with the driver. Montana then linked the story to content creator Zachery Dereniowski, who partnered with the NYTWA to launch a GoFundMe with a $25,000 goal. Bitat depends on the vehicle — now destroyed — to support his family in Algeria. He was hospitalized after fainting at his home on Thursday. "I'm thinking of quitting," he told The City Reporter. "Once I saw the cab, it was very traumatic."
The arrests
Saul Vargas, 21, was arrested on Monday and charged with criminal mischief. Police are still searching for two additional suspects connected to the taxi attack.
The read
Championship celebrations turn destructive every year in every city, and the damage lands on the people who can least afford it — a cab driver nearing retirement whose livelihood depends on a vehicle he does not own. French Montana using his platform to find Bitat and fund the recovery is the kind of direct intervention that makes a difference, but the gap between a $25,000 GoFundMe and the structural costs Bitat faces — a destroyed vehicle, medical bills, lost income, potential job loss — is the quieter story underneath the celebration footage.
Source: TMZ, The City Reporter, ABC7
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