Inside a packed Mexican restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn, a woman lit a tall glass prayer candle to the Virgin of Guadalupe and kept it lit for the entirety of her team\u2019s World Cup game against Ecuador, until Mexico won.<\/p>\n
On the buzzing streets of Little Senegal in Harlem, a Senegalese security guard beat a djembe and sang in Wolof, his offering of hope as his team faced off against Belgium in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n
And in Little Egypt in Astoria, Muslim men in red-and-black jerseys knelt for Friday midday prayers before funneling into hookah bars and cafes. They joined crowds that spilled onto the sidewalks, watching TVs propped in windows as condensation from the AC units above dripped onto their shoulders.<\/p>\n
As the World Cup tournament heads toward its conclusion on July 19 \u2014 with the finals nearby at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey \u2014 such scenes of cultural and ethnic pride have played out in immigrant enclaves across New York City, where 60% of residents are immigrants or the children of immigrants.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Keith for Gothamist<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beautiful game<\/a>\u201d inspires strong passions around the globe. But many in the city\u2019s immigrant-rich neighborhoods say the nearly six-week tournament has also provided a respite from immigration anxieties<\/a> and rising xenophobia<\/a>, along with an opportunity to publicly and proudly embrace their heritage amid turmoil in the United States and abroad.<\/p>\n \u201dWe’re living in this country where we feel like second-class citizens, so this is one thing that helps bring us together and makes us very proud to be Egyptians,\u201d said Ramzy Mansour, the child of Egyptian immigrants, at the Aladdin hookah bar in Little Egypt.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a glimpse at how local immigrant communities have experienced the World Cup \u2014 with all its exuberance and heartbreak \u2014 as the tournament nears its end.<\/p>\n Little Senegal in Harlem<\/p>\n More than 50 young Senegalese men in green jerseys, caps and scarves packed the main room of the Senegalese Association of America’s headquarters on West 116th Street in Harlem. Many had immigrated to the United States in just the past few years.<\/p>\n The weather topped 90 degrees, and the room had just two barely functioning AC units and a small standing fan to keep attendees cool as they watched the Lions of Teranga on a grainy projector screen.<\/p>\n Some viewers leapt to their feet as the Senegalese players neared Belgium’s goal. When Senegal scored moments later, they erupted in cheers and pumped their fists in the air, waving spare shirts like whirligigs and video-calling their friends to share in the ecstasy.<\/p>\n Similar scenes played out across that stretch of West 116th Street in the heart of Little Senegal, where strangers packed into barbershops and electronic stores, or thronged onto sidewalks to watch the game from their phones.<\/p>\n Harlem is New York City’s second-largest enclave of West African immigrants, home to an estimated 4.8% of the city\u2019s West African immigrant population, according to city planning data<\/a>. An estimated 6,720 people of Senegalese heritage live in New York City, according to the latest Census survey data.<\/p>\n A Senegalese man on West 116th Street in Harlem waves a scarf after Senegal scored a goal in the team\u2019s game against Belgium in the World Cup.<\/p>\n Arya Sundaram\/Gothamist<\/p>\n Musa Guey, 27, a son of Senegalese immigrants who lives in the Bronx, said the latest wave of immigration politics and policies has threatened the city\u2019s Senegalese community.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is why the game is more important,\u201d Guey said. \u201dBecause if you win in somebody else’s country and they don’t even let your citizens come freely into the country. \u2026 It gives attention to the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cA lot of people, they’re scared because they feel like they work hard in America, but all the stuff that they’re working for, it might not mean anything if they’re forced to leave the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Egypt in Astoria<\/p>\n After Egypt\u2019s first goal against Australia in the Round of 32, chants of “Masr” \u2014 Egypt’s name in Arabic \u2014 erupted at a crowded hookah bar on Steinway Street in Astoria. Each time Egypt’s defense held off an Australian attack, men muttered “alhamdulillah” under their breath.<\/p>\n Mohamed Kharchy, who moved to the United States a few years ago from Mauritania and watched the game between puffs of shisha, said he usually just travels between home and work these days to avoid potential immigration enforcement \u2014 but this day was different.<\/p>\n Stephanie Keith for Gothamist<\/p>\n \u201cI need to watch the game, you know. I have no choice,\u201d he said. \u201c\u200aWhen an Arabic country plays, all the Arabic community comes to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Egypt is located in the Northwestern Queens neighborhood of Astoria, which is home to one of the largest concentrations of Egyptians in New York City. Between 2007 and 2011, 4% of the neighborhood\u2019s immigrants were Egyptian, totaling nearly 900 people, according to city planning data<\/a>.<\/p>\n Egyptians are also New York City\u2019s largest Arab immigrant group, accounting for a third of the city\u2019s Arab immigrants, according to city planning data<\/a>. An estimated 26,100 people of Egyptian descent live in New York City, according to the latest Census survey data.<\/p>\n A block away from the hookah bar, as the temperature tipped past 100 degrees, a crowd formed outside a corner store that set up a television facing the street, under the drip of window AC units. A young man beat a tabla drum as his mother, wearing an Egyptian jersey and red-black-and-white headband, her cheeks painted those same colors, waved the Egyptian flag.<\/p>\n Stephanie Keith for Gothamist<\/p>\n As the crowd chanted \u201c3-2-1, Egypt\u2019s No. 1,\u201d a young man handed a replica World Cup trophy to another man, who placed his hand upon the golden soccer ball as the crowd cheered.<\/p>\n When Egypt won the game \u2014 marking the furthest the team has ever advanced in the World Cup \u2014 throngs of hundreds, if not thousands, of people flocked out of the corridor\u2019s establishments and swarmed onto the street.<\/p>\n A group of young men climbed onto a white refrigerated truck and waved massive flags and set off fireworks. Drivers whose cars were boxed in by the crowd honked their horns in celebration, and strangers danced in the streets to the sounds of tabla drums, air horns and the roar of the crowd.<\/p>\n For some spectators, the games have been a reminder of the situation in their families\u2019 homelands, including the Middle East, where the United States and Iran continue to wage attacks against each other<\/a>, and Israel continues to launch airstrikes<\/a> in Gaza and Lebanon.<\/p>\n Stephanie Keith for Gothamist<\/p>\n After Egypt\u2019s win against Australia, Egypt\u2019s coach, Hossam Hassan, waved the Palestinian flag on the field. For 20-year-old Isco Gith, a son of Egyptian immigrants living in New Jersey, it was a reminder of the devastation in Gaza and a sign of camaraderie.<\/p>\n \u201dWe’re not going to forget what’s going on over there,\u201d Gith said. \u201cAnd we always have to stand by the side, support our brothers and sisters in Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n For some, the camaraderie extends across cultures. Mars Qolbina, a 23-year-old woman from Indonesia who visited Little Egypt for a recent World Cup game, said she\u2019s supporting \u201cevery team who’s not a colonizer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMore than the soccer itself, it feels very communal, and you feel a lot of sense of community,\u201d Qolbina said. \u201cPeople of color, you know? It’s just a shorthand for us to gather and support each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Mexico in Sunset Park<\/p>\n On a rainy evening, Mexican restaurants across Sunset Park were packed with spectators donning green jerseys and red dresses and bandannas.<\/p>\n New York City is among the metro areas<\/a> with the highest number of Mexican immigrants; just over 1%<\/a> of the nation\u2019s Mexican-born residents live in New York City, and an estimated 366,800 people of Mexican descent call the city home, representing over 4% of the city\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Sunset Park is the second-largest enclave of Mexican immigrants in New York City: between 2007 to 2011, an estimated 7%<\/a> of the city\u2019s Mexican immigrant population lived in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n At Tacos El Bronco in Sunset Park, Roy Garcia, 30, and his high school friend from Latvia drank tequila straight from the bottle whenever Mexico scored against England, and whenever the pair got nervous about the score, like when England was awarded a penalty kick.<\/p>\n