By Gus Saltonstall
Tens of thousands of people are set to watch the World Cup Final on the Great Lawn in Central Park next month.
On Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, along with Governor Kathy Hochul and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, announced that Global Citizen will host a 50,000-person watch party for the World Cup Final on the Great Lawn on July 19.
“You shouldn’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to be part of the World Cup. Under our administration, you don’t have to,” Mamdani said during a press conference Monday in Central Park. “From a free watch party for 50,000 New Yorkers on the Great Lawn to fan festivals in every borough and investments that help small businesses share in the benefits of this tournament, we’re making sure the World Cup belongs to the people who make this city what it is.”
Mamdani and other leaders announced the Great Lawn World Cup Final watch party on Monday, while also cutting the ribbon to the temporary mini-soccer field in Central Park, behind Tavern on the Green. The field will remain open throughout the tournament and offer free clinics and open-play chances.
Admission is free for the Great Lawn watch party, but tickets will be distributed via a lottery system, which you can register for here beginning on June 11 at 10 a.m. The lottery will remain open through July 16.
Guests will be able to enter the watch party on July 19 at noon for the game at 3 p.m.
Global Citizen, which will also oversee the lottery for tickets, is a familiar name to West Side Rag readers.
An international advocacy organization, it hosts the Global Citizen Festival each year in September, also on the Great Lawn. In 2023, the Great Lawn was badly damaged during the festival, resulting in it being closed to the public for an extended period of time.
The Central Park Conservancy funded the repair work and then was reimbursed in full by Global Citizen. In the following years, damage from the festival never reached those heights, but the lawn was closed for extended periods during more recent years as well.
To give an idea on the scale of the 50,000-person World Cup Final watch party, generally between 25,000 and 35,000 people attend the Global Citizen Festival.
You can find out more about the World Cup Final Great Lawn watch party — HERE.
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While it is a beautiful part of our Central Park, it seems like the great lawn is not meant to be a concert venue, nor a place for 50,000 people. Not only do concerts cause unnecessary noise pollution for those who live around it. Why not have this on Randalls island on a big soccer field where no one will be inconvenienced by the crowds, littering, noise, and damage to our pubic park. Who is paying for the restoration of the lawn this time?
We totally agree with you👍
Absolutely disagree. This is what the park is for. You do realize that the Great Lawn has been used for HUGE outdoor concerts for decades, correct? It might be worth reading up on the history of a public space before automatically criticizing a modality of its usage.
I personally believe this is an amazing opportunity. It’s an amazing feeling having a mayor who prioritizes his citizens over his personal bottom line.
N.B. I don’t want to hear any complaints about “noise” while living in Manhattan. Thank you!
Really? This is what parks are for? Visit by invitation? Sorry, but you’re flat out wrong.
I am in agreement that the lawn has been used for concerts with large audiences for decades. Not sure what you mean about prioritizing the citizens over his personal bottom line. Like, what, someone would bribe him so there would be only paid-for parties?
I also really wish we could have mayors who are lees self aggrandizing. Though to be fair, if they were, I guess they wouldn’t be in politics.
As for noice in Manhattan. This conversation is so tiresome. Person A complains about noice and Person B says if you hate noise, why live in NYC/Manhattan? People who are able and willing spend more to live in quiet places. I do think it is silly to complain about a once every four years event.
Absolutely disagree. Parks are for quiet enjoyment as in having to enjoy some nature in the middle of the cities. It might be worth trying to grow more grey brain cells instead of carrying a soccer ball over your shoulder.
The mayor definitely prioritizes his personal bottom….
Living in Manhattan doesn’t necessarily mean to enjoy the dirt bikes, back firing loud exhaust car pipes, people using speakers (instead of earphones) on public transportation, fellow neighbors playing loud music and partying on the sidewalks till 2am on a workday… any unnecessary loud noise..
Don’t want to hear any complaint? Don’t read, don’t listen… dismissed..
No. Parks are actually not your personal quiet space. If you want this, go to a library.
Parks are third spaces. Parks are for people to gather and enjoy themselves.
Let’s say I agreed with you. I guess that’d mean it’s time to dismantle beloved events like NY Phil’s Concerts in the Park. And Shakespeare in the Park. Both are far too loud! And we’d also have to get rid of the Naumburg Shell near the fountain – no need for this, right?
As far as insulting my apparent lack of “grey matter”, I’ll leave you with this: I’d rather have a soul than a brain, and retain the ability to love my city at its best. I’d rather this than to be a jaded beldam who saps the love and fun out of everywhere I go.
This is a one-time event. There are two or three other big events like this, at most, throughout the year. The rest of the time the park is for quiet enjoyment. And even DURING these events, there’s a massive amount of the park above and below that can still be enjoyed peacefully. Not to mention Riverside Park just a few blocks west.
C’mon, WSR commenters, you don’t have to complain about every single thing.
Ms Ghost —. Who appointed you the headmistress of your imaginary NYC school of etiquette?
You’re pretty dismissive of your fellow neighbors.
(Technically, the loudest thing on the streets overnight are the four garbage, recycling, compost, and bottles collections. Can they make a quieter garbage truck?)
Central Park and the great lawn were designed for this. That’s why it’s called the Great Lawn. Plenty of subway and bus service to Central Park. Why do you think people want to go to Randall’s island? ( no easy way to get there anyway- talk about inconvenient! ) What pollution are you talking about — people’s sneakers rubbing the sidewalk?
The Great Lawn was originally designed to be a tranquil green space and children’s play area, a naturalistic retreat from urban chaos. But I can see why a Rational Person would conclude that a large outdoor space originally designed in 1858 to evoke the open fields of the English countryside would specifically be made for the purpose of being used by 50,000 people to watch TV.
Yeah. That was even before Bloomingdale Road was even paved. I guess subways were a bad idea too if want to keep to what was originally planned.
I still have the Barbra Streisand in Central Park album from 1967—135,000 people cheering on the Great Lawn! As big as the Great Lawn is, it’s not quite 7% of all of Central Park. World Cup final, middle of Manhattan, 50,000 people for free plus a top-tier halftime concert? Mamdani knows NYC and New Yorkers. Thank you Zohran!
Weather forecast is calling for: Torrential rain storms for that week😳
The game is on July 19th. Surely as a weatherman you know that a forecast 1+ months out is not reliable.
My weather forecast is for you to take a class in appreciating sarcasm – they were kidding – relax.
What a relief
Mr Kill-Joy here
Another excuse for Global Citizen to ruin the lawn and get it shutdown for the summer.
Exactly the point. Global Citizen may (eventually) pay for the damage done by 100,000 trampling feet, but we Local Citizens who love and use the park every day will be deprived of it for the months it takes to recover. Which is what happened the last time GC sponsored a big event on this fragile turf.
Dogs are not allowed on the Great Lawn at any time. How many will be in attendance? Smoking is also not allowed in the park. And drinking…….
I have no idea how I would have been a part of the World Cup without spending “tens of thousands of dollars” if I hadn’t been “under this Administration”! Thank you Mayor Mamdani! Getting smashed with 50,000 others on the Great Lawn (aka pretty much every other regular summer Sunday) – with the added bonus of lottery, barriers, security, long lines and extra mayhem – was literally the thing I needed to be part of the World Cup without spending tens of thousands of dollars. And did someone say Madonna?! Amazing. Not sure who asked for that but my grandfather would have been so excited!
This is the same administration that jacked up train tickets from Penn Starion to MetLife Stadium to $150+. So much for “affordability”.
Hello? Moderators? I don’t think it’s fair to allow an egregious lie into the discussion thread. Blaming the mayor of NYC for NJTransit’s price gouging is nonsensical.
I’m not a fan of this mayor, but to blame his administration for increased New Jersey transit fares during the World Cup is nonsensical. If you want to blame anyone look at NJ Transit or the State of New Jersey (or FIFA for not wanting to contribute to the incredible costs of security, etc.).
You know you’re not REQUIRED to go, right?
Doesn’t the Philharmonic, ironically happening this week, host more than 50,000 people? That would’ve been a better comparison, no?
The Philharmonic in the Park is mostly supported through private philanthropy. The World Cup Watch Party is costing taxpayers about $70 per person (City) or $170 per person (City + State). And we have a budget deficit.
No. The philharmonic has never been more than 15,000 people.
Yeah but the shoes worn by the philharmonic crowd are nowhere near as aggressive on the grass as the the one worn by soccer mad fans.
What shoes do soccer mad fans wear?
Global Citizens is notorious for destroying the lawn and not fixing it. I hope the restoration bill goes to them and FIFA.
Did you read the article?
“You shouldn’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to be part of the World Cup. Under our administration, you don’t have to,” I know beer is expensive, but how much does he think any single football fan will consume in any of the bars showing the games? But the privately-funded Central Park Conservancy will have a multi-million dollar bill for the cleanup and lawn reseeding.
Big events are fun and I think they should continue. The problem is if the event causes a closure that goes on for a month or more after the event.
Did I hear something about a city budget deficit? How is this important enough to be costing the city $3.5 million (minimum)?
Expect noise, litter and violence just like Bryant Park. And don’t expect the mayor to condemn the aftermath. He minimizes this sort of thing and we, the residents, get screwed.
Want to fight it? Register for the lottery. Then if you win a ticket, don’t go.