Retailer Modell's launches Knicks-inspired comeback, featuring pigeon T-shirt

Once a place Long Islanders flocked to for sporting goods, team jerseys and sportswear, Modell's is making a comeback — of sorts — six years after bankruptcy.

On Monday, Mitchell B. Modell announced "a new online-only venture dedicated to sports-inspired merchandise," launching a New York Knicks championship-inspired T-shirt — featuring a pigeon.

In a news release sent to Newsday Monday, Modell, 72, talked about the death of his father from prostate cancer in 2008, as well as cancer battles both he and his brother have fought, as the impetus for the brand re-launch, which comes during Men's Health Month.

Modell said he hopes the product will help raise funds for free PSA screenings. The goal, Modell wrote, is to sell 100,000 of his new T-shirts and raise $500,000 to donate toward screenings.

The white T-shirts feature artwork of what Modell described as a "New York City pigeon" wearing a Knicks-orange baseball cap adorned with NYC.

The shirt features an orange heart with the word KNODELLS imprinted on it — the KN in Knicks blue-and-orange — with a pigeon atop a basketball between that KN and the ODELLS from Modell's fame. It reads: I [Heart] New York, underlined with the slogan "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" and then a dictionary explanation that reads, "Resilience: Gritty, adaptable, and loyal — much like everyday New Yorkers."

The shirt will be available to order for $20, plus $10 shipping at the official Modell's online website: MitchellModells.com.

Modell said $5 from every shirt sale will go toward PSA screening.

"Cancer has impacted every member of my family," Modell said in the news release, adding: "My father was a huge Knicks fan. Some of my greatest memories were going to games with him and sharing our love for sports. If we can help provide free PSA screenings and save lives through early detection, then we're doing something meaningful."

Modell's Sporting Goods, a century-old, family-owned chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, announcing it would close its remaining stores, including 14 on Long Island. The New York-based retailer was known for its “Gotta Go to Mo’s” ad slogan.