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“You get this type of opportunity, you do what you have to do to make it happen.”
That’s what Sydney Perry told herself when her West Hempstead bakery, Sydney’s Sweets, received an unexpected phone call shortly after noon Sunday.
On the other end of the line was a representative from Flyfish Club in Manhattan, the members-only club where the New York Knicks would celebrate their championship later that night.
The venue needed desserts — and it needed them fast.
The instructions were surprisingly simple: Bring whatever you can, as long as it looks great.
“They told us they needed something Knicks-branded, easy to set up and easy to pass around,” owner Sydney Perry told Greater Long Island. “Other than that, they left it completely up to us.”
Thankfully, Perry and her husband, Jermaine, were already at the bakery handling customer pickups. After staying up late celebrating the Knicks’ Game 5 victory with friends, they had been hoping for a quiet afternoon.
“That didn’t happen,” Sydney said with a laugh. “We were tired, but it was so worth it.”
Instead, the husband-and-wife team launched into a five-hour baking marathon.
By the end, they had created 150 Knicks-themed vanilla, chocolate and red velvet cupcakes. Some featured the Knicks logo, while others were decorated with the team’s 2026 championship logo.
They also made Knicks-colored mini dot cakes in vanilla and strawberry flavors.
By late afternoon, the desserts were packed and ready for the trip into Manhattan.
What happened next was something the couple never expected.
After delivering the desserts and setting up the display, Sydney and Jermaine were told they were welcome to stay for the invitation-only championship celebration.
For two lifelong Knicks fans, the experience quickly became surreal.
“The players were right next to us, but it was such a chill friends-and-family vibe that we couldn’t get overly excited about what was happening,” Sydney said. “Saturday we were watching them on TV, and Sunday we were partying with them, so that was pretty amazing.”
The Perrys still do not know exactly how Flyfish Club discovered their bakery, though they believe it may have something to do with the business’s growing social media presence.
Sydney’s Sweets has built a loyal online following in recent years, but the business’s story began long before Instagram.
The bakery has operated at 465 Hempstead Ave. in West Hempstead for 13 years. Before opening the storefront, Perry spent seven years baking out of her home while pursuing a very different career path.
She originally went to school to become an accountant.
But baking, which began as a hobby, continued to grow until it became a full-time business.
In 2022, Perry won Food Network’s “Spring Baking Championship: Easter,” putting both her talents and her Long Island bakery in the national spotlight.
The Knicks celebration was not even the first time Sydney’s Sweets received a last-minute celebrity request.
Several years ago, while The Weeknd was performing at Nassau Coliseum, Perry said the bakery received a call just hours before the concert. The singer’s drummer was celebrating a birthday and needed a cake immediately.
The bakery rushed to create a custom cake, delivered it to the venue, got paid for the order and even received floor seats to the concert.
But Perry said Sunday’s experience topped even that.
“The Knicks party was definitely better than the concert,” she said. “The Weeknd was on stage. We were actually hanging out with the Knicks.”
“The championship is great for New York,” she added. “And it turned out to be amazing for us, too.”
Top: Sydney Perry delivering desserts for the New York Knicks championship party in Manhattan. (Courtesy photo)
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