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<\/p>\nNew York officials are hoping for another four-game sweep by the New York Knicks in this year\u2019s NBA finals to avoid a clash with a World Cup group stage match at MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n
Should the series between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs reach a Game 6, that match will tip off on Tues., June 16, at 8:30pm at Madison Square Garden, which sits above Penn Station. The World Cup match between France and Senegal begins five-and-a-half hours earlier that day at 3pm, with thousands expected to use that same station to get to the Meadowlands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make very clear that we are hoping for a sweep,\u201d city mayor Zohran Mamdani said. \u201cWe are preparing for anything, because that is our job as New York City government, to ensure that any eventuality is one that we are ready for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani addressed reporters alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking from the MTA Rail Control Center in Manhattan on Thursday. They outlined the city\u2019s plans for the World Cup, which begins next week, with their biggest takeaway being for fans to use public transit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can handle this. We\u2019ve got this,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cThis is what we do best, and for those who are saying, \u2018stay home from work\u2019 \u2014 no. Come to the city. Celebrate. Otherwise, you\u2019re missing the excitement and the energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
From installing 33,000 new cameras in subway cars to increasing the numbers of buses and trains traveling across the city and to New Jersey, city officials have spent the last month outlining a plan as well as contingency plans for the 39-day tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach match day, roughly 100,000 people take our trains and buses out to World Cup events,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cBut (while) 100,000 is nice, we handle six million riders a day, so this is something that is absolutely within our control, because we know how to deal with the volume.\u201d<\/p>\n
To accommodate the thousands of fans heading to East Rutherford across eight match days, there will be a series of street closures around the city with altered bus routes in Midtown.<\/p>\n
Officials are also suspending construction and truck deliveries on match days to limit congestion on city streets. They advise that the city will be under grid lock alerts on each of those days. Simply put, officials recommend that travelers avoid driving into Manhattan at all costs.<\/p>\n
However, if you are a New Jersey-based Knicks fan, you will have to be prepared come June 16.<\/p>\n
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\n Knicks beat Spurs in Game 1 in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
New Jersey Transit, which operate the trains that shuffle commuters daily from Manhattan to the Garden States, recently unveiled their World Cup transit plans. One important note is that, when matches are happening at MetLife, only World Cup ticket holders will have access to NJ Transit\u2019s portion of Penn Station for about four hours before and three hours after each game.<\/p>\n
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