City Hall has floated making city buses free during this summer’s World Cup — a $100-million expense to save $3 for the international jet-set who pay $2,000 a ticket to attend games. Mayor Mamdani should instead spend that money on bringing the games to working-class New Yorkers.
The World Cup will feature eight matches at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, bringing fans from across the world to our region. Our soccer- (sorry, football-) obsessed new mayor should bring the festivities to New Yorkers by closing many streets to cars to make room for giant watch parties featuring the music and food of immigrant communities across the city.
FIFA has contracted with the city to use Times Square as a “fan zone” for manufactured enthusiasm and football hooliganism. Let the bridge-and-tunnel fans from Jersey and Pennsylvania have Times Square. The mayor should counter across the city with car-free streets, music and the food of communities — and video screens showing games of particular interest in each neighborhood.
Many neighborhoods have more than one fan base and many national groups have many fans in more than one neighborhood. New York City football has long been dominated by ethnic social clubs with a huge variety of immigrant origin stories. The Cosmos, the most famous U.S. professional team, began here as the “German-American League” in the 1920s. More recently, the West Indian and Greek communities have had several of their own leagues.
The clubs bring out the international character of our sport. Mayor Mamdani should bring that joyful, global culture of football out onto the streets: "Up the Immigrants," as football-crazed Brits might say.
Letting FIFA suck that enthusiasm into Times Square fan zones where you can buy a $20 beer to line FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s pockets won’t do much for businesses outside of the center of the city. Let the restaurants and pubs bring their wares, tables and chairs out into the street on hot tables and in tents. A proposal in Albany would allow establishments to serve booze outdoors during the games — that’s all well and good, but street food and music are things kids can enjoy.
Of course, New York football fans don’t need the city to tell them to get out in the street for the World Cup. Albania just beat Serbia in World Cup competition for the first time, and Albanian New Yorkers threw a day-long party in the Bronx replete with street closures. Little Italy and Arthur Avenue go nuts for the Italian national team, as do the French establishments in South Brooklyn for Les Bleus.
New Yorkers know how to do this. What I propose is to activate the neighborhoods, youth soccer programs, restaurants and social clubs and engage them in the city’s planning for the Games.
Mayor Mamdani is already the biggest football fan in New York City mayoral history. He should channel that passion into creating a quadrennial tradition of car-free World Cup viewing festivals that affirm New York City as a city of many cultures and origins. And that's nothing against US Soccer — we want them to do well and we want them to share the wealth with the immigrant communities that have always built and maintained this sport in this city and this country.
Ours is a sport played the world over under the same rules. Players in Iceland love the African players and each African country holds the clubs that employ their countrymen and women in Europe especially close. There are Mo Salah Liverpool jerseys from Gaza to Prospect Park and the Grand Concourse. Diego Maradona is known for his “10” both in the Argentine “Albiceleste” and the Napoli “Azzuri” colors. Waving the colors of our many countries of origin along with the red, white and blue will make a gorgeous mosaic.
And finally, take the train or the bus to these street parties. There will be no parking — and nowhere to park — so don’t even think about driving.
