New York City mayors have long tried to use their sports fandom to burnish their reputations as men of the people. Ed Koch joined in the champagne-fueled locker room celebration after the Mets\u2019 Game 7 victory in the 1986 World Series, and gave each player a key to the city during the ensuing ticker-tape parade.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the earliest example of mayoral sports fandom was Fiorello La Guardia\u2019s love of the Yankees. On top of the six titles that the team celebrated during his time in office, La Guardia also spoke at Lou Gherig\u2019s iconic retirement ceremony<\/a> in 1939 \u2014 when Gherig revealed his ALS diagnosis \u2014 calling the Iron Horse, \u201cthe greatest guy in America.\u201d<\/p>\n This question of fandom was even posed to the candidates at one of last year\u2019s mayoral debates. When asked if they would attend a Mets World Series Game 7 or a Knicks NBA Finals Game 7<\/a> \u2013 if they were held on the same night \u2013 former Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to thread the needle: \u201cI\u2019m gonna go half and half. I can make it back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n This drew a scornful laugh from then-candidate Zohran Mamdani. \u201cThis is what New Yorkers are sick of, just pick a team,” Mamdani said. “I\u2019d be there for the Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani has attended multiple Knicks games as Mayor, including Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Mon night, but his true passion lies in another, more international sport: soccer.<\/p>\n And while the world\u2019s most popular sport sometimes takes a back seat in Gotham, it\u2019ll be front and center this summer with the FIFA World Cup kicking off across North America on June 11, making Mamdani and his passion for the Beautiful Game the perfect mayor for this moment.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n He\u2019s a lifelong fan of the sport, especially of the London-based club, Arsenal.<\/p>\n Before moving to New York, Mamdani spent his early childhood in Uganda and South Africa, and he attributes his affinity for Arsenal to the team\u2019s roster of star African players in the early 2000s. It probably didn\u2019t hurt that the team was consistently one of the best in England during that time period under legendary manager Ars\u00e8ne Wenger \u2014 including an undefeated Premier League championship campaign in the 2003-04 season.<\/p>\n After a 22-year drought, Arsenal won the Premier League again this month, and Mamdani was thrilled, wrapping himself in a team flag at a recent press conference<\/a>, saying \u201c22 years I waited to put this on!\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, he\u2019s sported Arsenal gear all over the city, including a custom-made Arsenal kurta<\/a> to an Eid Al-Adha prayer in the Bronx last month.<\/p>\n He likes international soccer too<\/p>\n Mamdani attended the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as a teenager. On the “Adam Friedland Show”<\/a> last fall, he recalled being in the stands and crying after Ghana\u2019s heartbreaking loss to Uruguay<\/a> in the quarterfinals that tournament. A win would have sent Ghana to the semi-finals, a first at the time for an African nation.<\/p>\n His affinity for African teams doesn\u2019t seem to have dissipated as the mayor recently picked Morocco<\/a> to win it all, beating the tournament-favorite France in the final.<\/p>\n \u201cThe heart wants what it wants,\u201d he told the Guardian<\/a> to explain his surprising prediction.<\/p>\n He\u2019s played the sport since childhood<\/p>\n After playing on some of Manhattan’s top youth soccer clubs, he was on the Bronx Science\u2019s varsity team in high school, and was named captain of the team for his senior year. According to the Public School Athletic League, he finished his final season with eight goals, and two assists. Not bad!<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a sicko, like me, who was obsessed with soccer,\u201d said Aaron Schoenfelder of the Upper West Side, who played soccer with Mamdani growing up. \u201cIt was not cool to like soccer back then. And you could barely watch it on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n Schoenfelder said that after his favorite team, Fulham, upset the Italian club Juventus during their surprise run to the Europa League finals in 2010, Mamdani sent him some well-wishes via Facebook.<\/p>\n \u201cI was watching on my laptop on an illegal stream,\u201d Schoenfelder recalled. \u201cAfter the game, he wrote on my wall, \u2018Congrats man. I just read through the commentary of the game, seems phenomenal.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani continued to play as an adult in recreation leagues across the city \u2014 even after being elected to the state Assembly. His team\u2019s name was LIRR FC, named after the Long Island Railroad.<\/p>\n He also created an initiative to convert 50 streets near city schools into car-free soccer pitches<\/a> for kids to kick around now through the end of the World Cup, also featuring arts and craft and other activities similar to a block party.<\/p>\n He used his soccer skills on the campaign trail, to promote his platform and rail against the World Cup\u2019s sky-high prices<\/p>\n Mamdani centered his successful mayoral campaign around lowering costs for New Yorkers, and released a campaign ad in September<\/a> castigating FIFA for \u201cprice gouging\u201d fans with the high prices for the upcoming World Cup, and demanding affordable tickets for local residents \u2014 all while showcasing his soccer skills on the field. He started a petition titled \u201cGame Over Greed<\/a>\u201d to address the high-prices.<\/p>\n He also hosted the Cost of Living Classic soccer tournament back in October to highlight his affordability agenda, where local teams from across the five boroughs competed against one another. (Congrats SLOBs, or Soccer Lovers of Bushwick, for winning the championship<\/a>.)<\/p>\n While the main World Cup grievances listed in his petition have not been addressed, the mayor announced earlier this month that the city had reached an agreement with FIFA to provide 1000 tickets to games played at the Meadowlands to New Yorkers that include round-trip bus fare, all for just $50. No other American city has created a similar program.<\/p>\n And if you didn\u2019t win his lottery for tickets, there will be free watch parties across the city<\/a> in each borough, featuring local food and cultural programming. And continuing their pattern of collaboration, Gov. Kathy Hochul relaxed regulations<\/a>, allowing bars and restaurants to stay open later during the tournament to maximize the fun, and eased permitting for World Cup-related parties.<\/p>\n \u201cSomewhere in the world, a 10-year-old will be watching. It will be the first football match they remember when they are older,\u201d Mamdani said when announcing the affordable ticket allotment. \u201cAnd when they remember that match, they won’t only remember the goals that are scored, the tackles that are made, the saves that felt impossible. They’ll also remember how loud the stadium sounded, how people cheered together, jumped up and down together [and] shared the beautiful game together.\u201d<\/p>\n The World Cup kicks off June 11, and the final will take place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium (temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium for the World Cup).<\/p>\n