No child left behind.
Hundreds of the Big Apple’s tiniest Knicks fans celebrated the hometown team’s historic NBA Championship win Wednesday on the Upper West Side.
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan hosted the first-ever “kid-sized ticker tape celebration” that didn’t conflict with the school day, unlike the city’s official blockbuster parade set for Thursday morning.
“Typically, these things in the city happen in the morning. This was again about creating a space that was the right size for children and understood the flow of their day,” Dava Schub, the CEO of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, told The Post.
The pint-sized party was opened by Grand Marshals Jessica Seinfeld and Amy Schumer, both Upper West Side moms and dedicated Knicks fans, just after 4 p.m. — a time specifically chosen to accommodate not only school hours, but dinner and bedtime for the city’s youngest.
The kids screamed in joy as the pair sang “Go New York Go New York Go” before blasting orange and blue confetti into the crowd.
The free event featured face painting, dancing and even life-sized cutouts of the Knicks stars for the children to take pictures with, since they won’t get to see them at the official parade.
The event was announced just one day after Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke the news that Big Apple kids hoping to see their Knicks heroes parade down the Canyon of Heroes were out of luck.
Thousands of middle and high schoolers will be stuck in class taking Regents exams during the celebration, which also takes place during the school day, kicking off at around 10 a.m.
Despite pleading from teachers and students, the mayor refused to suspend classes.
But the CMOM party was not a response to the heartbreaking news — Schub and her team were already planning their own tot-focused event before the timing for the city’s parade was announced.
“The final time that the ball went through the hoop on Saturday night and the victory was declared — and my daughter and I were amongst the revelers parked on Amsterdam Avenue — I thought, ‘Okay, we’re in. What does this mean to uniquely celebrate this historic moment with and for New York City’s children?’” said Schub.
“This is the true definition of pulling something off in a New York minute.”
The party was planned to be kids-focused and as an alternative to the city’s ticker-tape parade, which is expected to be the biggest one ever seen — meaning crowded, wild and potentially unsafe for smaller children.
“This is our alternative to tomorrow, which is going to be crazy. I tried to get some dads to go with our kids, but there are no bags allowed and when you have a kid you need snacks, you need water. How would that happen?” said Jared Verteramo, 44, from the Upper West Side, who brought his son Julian, 8, to the CMOM bash.
“We made today the celebration!”
Mason Alvarado, 10, was one of the few kids at the party whose parents were permitting him to skip school Thursday to witness the once-in-a-lifetime parade from his Battery Place apartment.
“I want to see Alvarado because we have the same last name. My dad let me stay up to watch the games,” Mason said.
His mom, Angelica, said playing hooky was a no-brainer.
“We teach our kids not to give up and the fact that the New York Knicks didn’t give up shows them to continue to push through. We’re going to be at the parade tomorrow. He’s skipping school. I’ll set up right in front of my building and we’ll see the players tomorrow for sure,” she said.
The party is also a learning experience for the kids to learn from and celebrate life skills that the Knicks exemplified on the court that earned them their victory — and the sportsmanship Jalen Brunson showed when he shook hands with the San Antonio Spurs in the immediate aftermath of his championship win.
“I think about the power of hard work and determination. I think about the impact of teamwork. And it’s not just the win that matters, it’s how you win,” said Schub.
“There’s so many lessons in this that apply to the children that we’re raising in the city, and those lessons are something worth celebrating and lifting up.”
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