NEW YORK \u2013 Offices, public parks, bars \u2014 watch parties popped up at all the usual spots for Wednesday\u2019s semifinal World Cup match. But one was in something of an unusual location: New York\u2019s sprawling Rikers Island correctional facility, better known for its overcrowding and violence than for hosting social events.<\/p>\n
More than 100 inmates dressed in tan uniforms took seats at tables facing a projection screen showing the game in a gymnasium at the complex\u2019s main intake center to watch the semifinal match between England and Argentina. Colorful balloon towers topped by soccer ball balloons framed the screen.<\/p>\n
The jail has been hosting watch parties since the tournament kicked off last month for inmates who have shown good behavior, including being incident free for at least 30 days.<\/p>\n
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled up shortly before the game’s kickoff. His trademark dark suit jacket was off and his white dress shirt sleeves were rolled up. <\/p>\n
The Democrat took a seat at one of the first tables and immediately started chatting about the tournament.<\/p>\n
One of the inmates told others at the table that he expected Argentina to prevail over England and go on to face Spain, which had defeated France the day earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know,\u201d said Mamdani, a professed Morocco fan. <\/p>\n
At another table an inmate said he was going home later in the day. \u201cThat\u2019s amazing,\u201d the mayor said, shaking his hand and patting his back before heading out at about the 20-minute mark of the game.<\/p>\n
The jailhouse crowd erupted in a mix of groans and cheers as England struck first with a goal early in the second half.<\/p>\n
Ralph Veal was among the minority of England fans who raised his arms in celebration as Argentine supporters grimaced and looked away dejectedly.<\/p>\n
The 53-year-old Mount Vernon resident, who has been incarcerated since November, said he\u2019s rooting for England because it\u2019s his 20-year-old son\u2019s favorite team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vibe is real good, you know. I\u2019m sitting at the table with Argentina fans, but it\u2019s all right,\u201d Veal said shortly before the England goal. \u201cWe have a good, a good time, you know, it feels real great, real great. The energy is real positive in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 Offices, public parks, bars \u2014 watch parties popped up at all the usual spots for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56,319,421,82],"class_list":["post-297041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-sports","tag-u-s-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}