The forecast at the Westchester Children’s Museum after the New York Knicks’ historic victory in the NBA Finals: orange and blue skies.
The museum on Rye’s boardwalk joined the statewide victory lap in celebration of the first Knicks championship in 53 years. Parents who have waited decades, and their children who didn’t even know they were waiting, celebrated with merchandise giveaways, a DJ, photo stations, and Knicks-themed crafts.
Jeremy Scalchunes, the museum’s executive director, is just happy planning the event in advance didn’t jinx the team.
“ We had the flyer ready to go,” he said. “Right after they won, the response was pretty overwhelming, beyond what we imagined it would be.”
The museum’s Instagram post garnered more than 25,000 views and 800 likes, which tipped Scalchunes off to just how much local enthusiasm there is. Word of the event made its way to Madison Square Garden, and the newly crowned champions sent merchandise to give away to the hundreds of families who came.
“It was great too, because [for] folks that don’t necessarily frequent the museum often, it was a way that they could be introduced to our offerings,” Scalchunes said.
He knew that if the Knicks pulled off the ultimate feat, Westchester families would want to celebrate as a community without enduring the brutal wake-up calls and generally child-unfriendly atmosphere of the official ticker tape parade.
“We always want to be a part of the cultural conversation of what’s happening and see if there are creative ways to bring that into the museum,” he said.
Since the Knicks began their playoff dominance, Scalchunes said he’s seen a massive uptick in Knicks gear at the museum, with many jerseys bearing No. 11, the number of Knicks captain Jalen Brunson. He credits the team for rallying the entire state around positivity and teamwork, and said the Knicks success speaks to kids in a special way.
“These aren’t superstar players that came together and manufactured a championship; these are all underdogs that nobody really quite believed could do this,” he said. “I think that’s what a lot of these kids are connecting to.”
