While the Knicks are on parade, Sebastian Crosa will be working to get the grade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rather than lining the streets of lower Manhattan Thursday \u2014 whooping for the 2026 NBA Champions<\/a>, led by Jalen Brunson, Karl Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and his favorite player, Josh Hart \u2014 the middle schooler, 12, will be one of the thousands of devastated kids and teachers stuck inside classrooms due to the statewide Regents exams.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ticker-tape spectacle begins\u00a0at 10 a.m.,<\/a> with tip-off near Battery Park before moving up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes to City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani will present the Knicks with keys to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sebastian Crosa, a 12-year-old Knicks superfan, is begging city and state officials to cancel school on June 18, allowing students to attend the monumental Knicks parade. Courtesy The Crosa Family<\/p>\n It\u2019s a sight that Crosa likely won\u2019t be able to see in person.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s upsetting because, obviously, we\u2019ve been waiting for this moment a long time,\u201d Crosa, a Brooklyn public school student, exclusively told The Post. \u201cThe parade is really important, and everyone should be able to experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n The seventh grader, with a bleeding heart of blue and orange, launched a Change.org petition<\/a> this week, imploring Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mamdani and the state Department of Education to \u201ccancel NYC schools on June 18 to allow students, educators, and all proud New Yorkers to participate in the parade and revel in this rare and momentous occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knicks secured a historic victory Sunday, trampling the Spurs to be crowned the 2026 NBA Champions. Charles Wenzelberg \/ NY Post<\/p>\n Crosa, who told The Post he only expected to receive 100 signatures in support of his plight, has garnered over 3,100 endorsements from equally outraged basketball buffs, hoping the powers-that-be have a last-minute change of heart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But the tween\u2019s formal plea \u2014 drafted mere moments after the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs Sunday, reclaiming the title of world champs for the first time since 1973<\/a> \u2014 comes as a long shot following Mamdani\u2019s announcement that class, as well as the Regents, will undoubtedly be in session during the ticker-tape festivities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know that many New Yorkers have built their entire lives around this team,\u201d Mamdani said Monday<\/a>. \u201cAnd for our students \u2026 I will still encourage them to be studying hard for their Regents exam.\u201d<\/p>\n The standardized end-of-course tests are given to high schoolers in grades 9 through 12 as a requirement for graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n And while Crosa won\u2019t be taking the exam this year, the Knicks fanatic is expected to be in his assigned seat for a full day of learning Thursday \u2014 unless, of course, his petition causes a buzzer-beater miracle the likes of Anunoby\u2019s breathtaking Game 4 winning score<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know it might be difficult for them to cancel school [or reschedule] the tests at this point, but I figured the petition was worth a shot,\u201d said the tenacious tyke, a self-crowned \u201cleader\u201d among his peers. \u201cThe whole city needs this and wants this. So somebody had to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Colleen and husband Eduardo wish their boys were free to enjoy the hoopla this Thursday. Courtesy The Crosa Family<\/p>\n Students, such as Crosa, are expected to attend a full day of school on Thursday, as statewide Regents testing will be underway. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Colleen, 47, mom to Crosa and younger brother Lucas, 10, says she\u2019s proud her eldest boy is \u201cfighting for what he believes in,\u201d but \u201cdisappointed\u201d that he and other students have to fight for their right to party in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis generation of kids has gone through a lot of historical events and moments that have been difficult,\u201c said Colleen, a clinical psychologist. \u201cThis is a historical moment of joy, unity and perseverance that they can finally celebrate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I don\u2019t think that these [parade and school scheduling] decisions were made lightly or without thoughtfulness, I am disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n Crosa told The Post he\u2019s stunned his petition received so many signatures from supporters and fellow Knicks enthusiasts near and far. Courtesy The Crosa Family<\/p>\n She and her Knicks-loving family are not alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Peeved parents and educators alike are echoing Crosa\u2019s day-off appeal across the internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis message is for Zohran Mamdani,\u201d began one Knicks extremist, an NYC teacher known exclusively\u00a0online as @Subwayratmom<\/a>, in her cyber supplication. \u201cZo\u2026I feel that you, as the mayor, have the power to either cancel school, cancel Regents or move the parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to teach until June 26, and that\u2019s a really long time in teacher years,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd we\u2019re ready to be outside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sharon, a mother whose daughter will be neck-deep in Regents testing while\u00a0more than 1.25 tons of confetti<\/a>\u00a0fill the Big Apple skies,\u00a0separately begged<\/a>, \u201cDue to this win, all the kids and adults would like to be at the parade. Reschedule the Regents, please.\u201d<\/p>\n Molly Vozick-Levinson, 39, a director at a private preschool in Manhattan, isn\u2019t bound by the do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of the DOE, nor are her students \u2014 some of whom are still in diapers \u2014 being forced to take state exams.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, the lifelong Knicks lover tells The Post that it\u2019s \u201cirresponsible\u201d for city and state officials to \u201ctempt\u201d students to skip the Regents by scheduling the parade on a school day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Molly Vozick-Levinson, a preschool executive, plans to ditch her desk early Thursday in hopes for a glimpse at Brunson and the Knicks on parade. Courtesy of Molly Vozick-Levinson<\/p>\n \u201cSome kids might be tempted to skip their\u00a0exams, because they think that they might fail anyway,\u201d said Vozick-Levinson. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge temptation: \u2018If you skip your exams, making the wrong choice for your education, you will get to do something fun.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThat just seems irresponsible to me,\u201d said the administrator, admitting, however, that she plans to skip out of work early to revel in the fanfare. \u201cI just want to breathe the same air as the New York Knicks. If I get a glimpse of at least one Knick, I\u2019ll be so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Laverne Mickens, 53, a fourth-grade teacher and Brooklyn native, not only agrees that locals should skip out on their responsibilities, but she\u2019s encouraging it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTake state exam or see the Knicks parade \u2014 like, are you serious?\u201d said Mickens, whose husband, Cory, will be in attendance while she cares for their disabled sons. \u201cSkip school and call out of work \u2014 this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Mickens urges New Yorkers to skirt their duties and attend the \u201conce-in-a-lifetime\u201d parade. Courtesy of Laverne Mickens<\/p>\n \u201cThe last time they won, I\u2019d just been born 53 years ago,\u201d Mickens, a college scholarship specialist<\/a>, raved. \u201cYou don\u2019t know if they\u2019re going to win next year, or if this will ever happen again.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou better go to that parade.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t