The first of eight World Cup matches to be played at NY/NJ Stadium (formerly MetLife) this summer is on Saturday, between Brazil and Morocco.
And no, you (still) can’t walk there.
World Cup fans, facing staggering transit costs associated with the world’s most-watched sporting event, have been talking for months about potentially walking to the stadium on match days.
A round-trip NJ Transit ticket between New York Penn and NY/NJ Stadium costs $98 (down from its initial $150, though). Shuttles from NYC are more manageable; those tickets cost $20, a quarter of their initial price.
You could also take an Uber shuttle for about $49 a seat. Private cars can’t do drop-offs. And traffic anywhere near the stadium is expected to be a nightmare.
Hence the walking chatter.
With two days to go until the opening match in our host city, officials are setting up no pedestrian signs on highways near the stadium. They have no sidewalks, multiple lanes of traffic, and aren’t safe, they say.
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News 4 reporter Adam Harding spotted one of the no-pedestrian signs.
New York City’s Department of Transportation previously weighed in on the online buzz.
“We are working with our partners at the MTA and NJ state to ensure fans will have safe, efficient transportation options to the games, and we would strongly discourage this type of behavior,” the NYC DOT said at the time.
(If it’s any consolation, you couldn’t walk in the heart of midtown Manhattan earlier this week, either.)