Kick Off at the Children’s Museum

The Knicks’ tiniest fans can still throw a big party.

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) hosted a “kid-sized championship celebration” on June 17 to give the city’s children a place to celebrate their win safely.

The free event took place on the block where the CMOM is located on West 83rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. Police cars and fencing secured the block, which soon was filled with little orange and blue T-shirts, caps, and memorabilia (plus, a little parking lot exclusively for strollers).

Amy Schumer and Jessica Seinfield highlighted the event as the parade’s “Grand Marshals.” The turnout was notable—children and caregivers lined the block to the point where mobility was limited, though the event was always under control. Kids played arcade basketball, painted flags and cardboard basketballs, and enjoyed bubble guns and confetti cannons. There was hardly a second where the air wasn’t decorated with blue and orange confetti and bubbles.

By the CMOM entrance, an Uncommon Schools’ student drumline performed amid the NY-themed classics like Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” and cover of Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York.”

The CMOM celebration comes one day before up to one million fans were expected to converge Lower Manhattan for the Knicks’ official ticker-tape parade, which will culminate at City Hall when Mayor Zohran Mamdani presents team members with sympolic oversized keys to the city.

The June 18 parade is set to begin at 10 a.m., prompting countless young New Yorkers to petition Mamdani to either cancel school or move the parade. Mamdani denied those requests, but CMOM’s team said that their event was not meant to be a negative response to the city’s decision but rather a positive space where kids could celebrate safely.

“We knew that the parade tomorrow will be for adults,” CMOM communications director Ariel Handelman said. “We wanted something safe and for kids.” She described the event as “kid-centric, kid-focused, and put together in a New York minute.” Handelman said that they put the celebration together quickly—the Knicks only defeated in the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday June 13after all— with all the help they could get.

CMOM CEO Dana Schub said she was inspired to launch the event “every time the Knicks had a win and [she] saw the positivity and energy in our city,” from New Yorkers young and old. She said that many parents, understandably, don’t love the idea of bringing their young children to city parades attended by a million adults crowded into a dozen downtown city blocks.

CMOM isn’t new to this strategy. Schub compared the Knicks celebration to CMOM’s New Years Eve festivities, which take place during the day on December 30 and 31. New Years celebrations in New York, like the ball drop at midnight in Times Square, are another scene that parents may not feel inclined to bring their children.

Thus, the CMOM Knicks event was their way of recreating the same ticker-tape celebration but “smaller, and more contained.” With the event limited to one city block, Schub said it was intended to be “safe, sane, and celebratory.”

Safe, sane, and celebratory it was. When asked about his presence at the event, young attendee Leo said that he was “happy the Knicks won” while boasting a bright blue Knicks tee. He said that he shot a basketball at the arcade stand, and pulled out a flat wooden basketball that he had decorated with blue and orange markers. Fellow attendee, young Shiloh, said that she wanted to “see Jalen Brunson,” unsurprisingly given the tiny Brunson jersey she wore. Despite some cloudy skies and a couple raindrops, CMOM gave these young basketball fans their time to celebrate.