{"id":297052,"date":"2026-07-15T21:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297052\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T21:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:18:17","slug":"nycs-rikers-island-jail-hosts-world-cup-watch-party-for-inmates-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297052\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC\u2019s Rikers Island jail hosts World Cup watch party for inmates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 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 mismanagement woes than for hosting social events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">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<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img-LCDUI62XVJCR6TWTYO3SUZP4PA-image\" alt=\"Rikers Island inmates react as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, not pictured, leaves the jail complex during a World Cup semifinal soccer match watch party for the game between England and Argentina, in New York.\" class=\"height_a width_full invisible width_full--mobile width_full--tablet-only\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LCDUI62XVJCR6TWTYO3SUZP4PA.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/>Rikers Island inmates react as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, not pictured, leaves the jail complex during a World Cup semifinal soccer match watch party for the game between England and Argentina, in New York.Seth Wenig\/AP Photo\/Seth Wenig<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">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 at least for 30 days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">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<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img-4IDPPDZV54OMQ66UYJ33S4DVO4-image\" alt=\"New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks with Rikers Island inmates as they watch the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina, at the jail complex in New York.\" class=\"height_a width_full invisible width_full--mobile width_full--tablet-only\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4IDPPDZV54OMQ66UYJ33S4DVO4.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/>New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks with Rikers Island inmates as they watch the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina, at the jail complex in New York.Seth Wenig\/AP Photo\/Seth Wenig<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">The Democrat took a seat at one of the first tables and immediately started chatting about the tournament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">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<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cYou never know,\u201d said Mamdani, a professed Morocco fan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">At another table an inmate said he was going home later today. \u201cThat\u2019s amazing,\u201d the mayor said, shaking his hand and patting his back.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img-SQYFY3HW6WZMLRLAXK6BNKDVBU-image\" alt=\"Rikers Island inmates react as they watch the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina, at the jail complex in New York.\" class=\"height_a width_full invisible width_full--mobile width_full--tablet-only\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SQYFY3HW6WZMLRLAXK6BNKDVBU.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/>Rikers Island inmates react as they watch the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina, at the jail complex in New York.Seth Wenig\/AP Photo\/Seth Wenig<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">At about the 20-minute mark of the game, Mamdani headed out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">There have been 90 such events with about 4,500 of the roughly 6,600 inmates participating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Offices, public parks, bars \u2014 watch parties popped up at all the usual spots&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12541,417,9,56,63,65,64,4719,400,319,421],"class_list":["post-297052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-general-news","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-prisons","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297052","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=297052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}