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NYC's littlest Knicks fans celebrate in Children's Museum parade
By
Jessica Gould
Published Jun 17, 2026
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Jessica Gould/Gothamist
By
Jessica Gould
Published Jun 17, 2026
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Kids aren’t getting a day off from school for the Knicks’ ticker tape parade on Thursday, but some of the city’s littlest fans did get a chance to celebrate at a special mini parade on the Upper West Side.
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan hosted the kids’ parade Wednesday afternoon outside its entrance on 83rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. The block was packed with families and puffs of ticker tape rained down on pint sized sports fans.
Basketball fan Nola Ferreira, 9, said she was allowed to stay up and watch the Knicks win it all Saturday and into Sunday morning.
“Everybody was outside and it was very wild,” she recalled from the parade route Wednesday. “Everybody was cheering and very happy and I was very happy too.”
Asked if she’d be going to the grown-up parade Thursday, Ferreira said the matter was still under negotiation, as it is a school day.
Drew Dial, 11, said school will have to wait — the ticker-tape parade is too historic an event to miss.
“Because it's the first time the Knicks have won in 53 years,” he insisted.
Kids took over the streets outside the Children's Museum Wednesday for a mini Knicks parade. child wearing a Jalen Brunson jersey atop someone's shoulders during the Knicks kids' parade on the Upper West Side Wednesday
Jessica Gould/Gothamist
Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed earlier this week that he wouldn’t be able to cancel school Thursday. Some high school students have to take Regents’ exams, and regular school for kids in pre-k through middle school is in session.
"This is something I cannot repeal," Mamdani said during a NY1 interview Monday.
J.P. O’Hare, a state department of education spokesperson, said the Regents exams are also important.
“New Yorkers are rightfully excited to celebrate the Knicks, but our students have been preparing all year for this moment, too,” he said in a statement.
A tight calendar packed with holidays, plus a snow day off this winter, provides little wiggle room to cancel school and meet the state mandated minimum days in session
The grown-up Knicks parade starts at 10 a.m. Thursday and millions are expected to show up, according to officials.
Tagged
education
new york city
public safety
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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