By Tracy Zwick
What was billed as a ticker-tape parade for the youngest fans of the NY Knicks drew a large and enthusiastic crowd Wednesday afternoon to West 83rd Street outside the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Promotional materials variously described the event as a ticker-tape celebration, a block party, and a dance party. They promised activities including arts and crafts, life-sized Knicks player cutouts, and face painting.
In practice, though, the celebration was jammed into a single block between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway that quickly filled with Knicks fans of all ages. Well before the scheduled 4 p.m. start time, the block was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with families and friends dressed in orange and blue. Metal police barricades narrowed portions of the street, while parked strollers, moving strollers, and Pop-a-Shot basketball games occupied additional space.
Despite being billed as a parade, the size of the crowd left little room for movement. Most attendees remained in place throughout the brief celebration, often struggling to take a few steps in any direction.
Dava Schub, the museum’s CEO, welcomed the crowd and led a spirited chant of “Go New York, Go New York, Go!” before introducing grand marshals Jessica Seinfeld and Amy Schumer. The pair offered brief remarks focused on lessons children could take from the Knicks’ championship run, including determination, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
One of the most anticipated moments came when Schumer led the crowd in a countdown from ten leading up to the promised confetti cannons. The machines at first failed, slowly emitting a few handfuls of cut orange and blue paper. After a second countdown, they were able to sustain a modest flutter of confetti.
Around 4:20 p.m., attendees were told that the block had become extremely crowded; everyone was urged to disperse safely. Knicks fans of all ages began making their way toward Broadway or Amsterdam as gray skies gathered overhead and a light drizzle started to fall.
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The people are clamoring for more open streets, one block is simply not enough!!
I’m calling for additional emergency open streets until we can figure out what is going on.
I live on 83rd (on a different stretch). But I saw this and watched for a while. Despite its size, it was a wonderful, happy, multi-ethnic, well-behaved crowd, (And there were almost as many adults as children.) It was simply the type of event that the City needs more of, binging people together in “smaller” block and neighborhood groups.
This used to be “the norm.” It seemed that every other block would have an annual Block Party, and larger community organizations would hold multi-block parties (NOT the massive money-driven street fairs we still see on some avenues, but more family-oriented) and other events.
Sadly, as our city increasingly becomes a “playground for the rich,” there events, which were held by the working and middle classes) have decreased to almost zero.
And they call it “progress.”