Governor Kathy Hochul: Oh, how sweet it is. How sweet it is. Let's keep it going, Knicks. I was just reflecting on the crack of dawn, literally crack of dawn - when the skies are orange and blue early this morning when I took my walk - and you know what I noticed? New Yorkers are making eye contact again. It was shocking. People looking up and have an extra lift in their step and wearing their Knicks gear as I was trying to go incognito, but everybody seemed to know there's just something magical in the air. So, it's a very special day. Go Knicks. Make us all so proud.
I'm here standing here with our mayor, who is aligned with me in our strong desire to keep this city safe, protected, accessible and fun during the next few months or next month and a half of World Cup games, as well as many, many other activities over this summer, so I want to thank him and his incredible team of commissioners who are assembled here as well to make sure that we do have exactly all those accomplished by the end of the summer. So, [I'm] excited to partner with the mayor on this. Our MTA Chair and CEO, Janno Lieber - we've been to a lot of battles together, and I appreciate your strong, consistent leadership [of] this extraordinary organization. And, as I mentioned, the number of commissioners that the mayor will introduce, but also Thomas Taffe from the MTA; Police Chief Demetrius Crichlow, the New York City Transit president; Justin Brannan, my state director of major events and operations, who've been very busy this summer; and all the officials who keep us on time.
But there is incredible energy, as I mentioned, but it's not just the Knicks, but the Knicks plus. Knicks Plus. What a year. What a year this is. To also have the eyes of the world centered upon our city and our region for the World Cup games, which are just - I was at a soccer field yesterday with children, and everybody's just so fired up about this. It's a wonderful feeling.
But we also want to make sure we're ready, not just for our residents but for visitors from literally around the world. And that calls upon us, for people who are not as experienced with our subways and buses and trains, to be able to have a very safe, positive experience as well as they experience the world's largest sporting event. That's what we're going to be hosting. So, when it comes to safeguarding our subways, we've been working hard to already build the foundation.
When I first became governor, we had an enormous spike in subway crimes. People were fearful of going on the subway. It was fairly desolate immediately after the pandemic. So, we had a real challenge to build back the system as well as stop it from literally the train going off the financial cliff here. But we built a strong foundation, and we made over $150 million investments to deploy more law enforcement to areas of the transit system where they're needed most. I'm proud to do that. It's unprecedented for the state to do it for the city, but we're going to keep it going because we're seeing it pay off. We also installed 33,000 cameras, one in every subway car. Remember, we first talked about this, Janno? I was told there's a number of years it has to go first. I said, "No, we're gonna do it sooner than that," and you got it done. So, thank you. Got it done in one year. 33,000 cars all have cameras. So, we are watching.
We know what is going on in our subways at every moment, as we just toured the incredible nerve center of the MTA, where people are watching what is occurring as well. Platform barriers - a lot of anxiety about pushing on the tracks. So, we're going to continue this effort, but nearly 150 stations have platform barriers, so someone who's feeling anxious or concerned about an individual can literally stand behind them and feel safer. And every single station with bright LED lighting, it's the first thing I said when I went down; I said, "Let's brighten this up. Let's have better lights. Let's paint the walls." Maybe paint the walls orange and blue. Maybe that's a good idea next. Would cover the Mets too, wouldn't it? Sorry, Yankees fans, I had to say that.
But it was a result of seeing incredible changes, not just in the psychology as a rider, as I'm riding, and people like me - maybe it is the Knicks effect - but people are excited and happy and feeling more relaxed and not as stressed out in general. And subway crime is down to a 16-year low. Sixteen years. I mean, that's unbelievable, where people now don't have to have this as their number one concern when they leave their homes and head out to the subway. And also, just in the last year, and I thank the mayor and Commissioner Tisch and his entire team for a subway crime that's down six percent, for what they do as well since last May.
So that's - when you have a dramatic drop, you don't expect to see a drop anytime soon again, because how long can you keep a trend going? Well, it dropped another six percent since last year, so extraordinary results, but we never say "mission accomplished" ever. We know we always have more work to do.
But now, the World Cup. We know a surge of fans will be using mass transit to get to and from the stadium or to their favorite soccer bar to the Fan Fest events that we announced we're doing - you're doing in every single borough, [and] we're doing around the state as well. And this all requires additional resources. You know, the personnel, the technology. What is going to be required is we're going to go into more details, but not just from the MTA, but from law enforcement as well. But I want to say this: We can handle this. We've got this. This is what we do best.
And for those who are saying, you know, "Stay home from work," no. Come to the city, celebrate. Otherwise, you're missing the excitement and the energy. So, we've been planning for this for years, table-topping this exercise as we're ramping our police presence, more transit police, NYPD, State Police [and] our National Guard Joint Task Force Empire Shield to be fully activated, patrolling our major transit hubs and other special World Cup events. And again, we're used to this. We have the New York City Marathon, and we're always looking forward to UN Week, right? Favorite week of the year. To Climate Week, you know, there's also Clinton Global Initiative, and all kinds of activities, and the US Open and a lot of things we handle, and sold out concerts and sporting events at Madison Square Garden, including outside the Garden, where people are excited, gathering in the streets to watch the Knicks as they will be up until the fourth game and then they'll be done. I didn't say that. I did not jinx anything, okay? Okay, just want to get it clear. So, bottom line is we're used to this intensity, we're used to this traffic. Our police are the best, our MTA team is the best. We know how to handle this. So, I wanna reassure New Yorkers that this is not something that's going to catch us by surprise. This has been something that we have table-topped for a long time.
And again, we just had one of the largest training exercises in the entire state at Moynihan Station to prepare for this. And all this relies on collaboration, breaking down agency silos that have existed in the past, not for this, and we work as a team with the city and share intelligence. We're also gonna be deploying drones to safeguard critical locations across the transit system, including our bridges and tunnels, critically important, but also just managing the flow of people.
Now, as I mentioned, some states might be saying, "Stay home, it's gonna be a hassle." That's your choice. But for those who want to be part of the financial, cultural, sports, entertainment capital of the world during this time when the world is watching us: We're ready for it, and that's the main object of explaining what we're doing here today. So, I know Janno's going to talk about [how] we're running more subway trains into Penn Station on game days. We'll have more 7 trains into Queens, so people have no trouble getting to our free Fan Fest, especially on World Cup match days that coincide with Mets home games. This is exciting. We're also suspending all construction work on match days. Yay, good idea, right? Yes, it's a brilliant idea. I don't think I came up with that, but it's good one, whoever did.
And to prevent unnecessary backups, Janno is going to go into more detail. But I just want to say this: No city is better prepared than New York. No city knows how to handle crowds, extra riders, intercept criminals [and] online threats. And no city is better prepared to keep its trains and buses running on time. And each match day, roughly 100,000 people will take our trains and buses out to World Cup events. But 100,000 is nice. We handle 6 million riders a day. So, this is something that is absolutely within our control because we know how to deal with the volume and the anticipated guests. We want to make sure they have an extraordinary experience coming to New York. So, we have the premier athletes on the field, the premier law enforcement teams, right where they need to be, all of them protecting us.
And so, I'm fired up. I'm excited about this. I'm a huge sports fan, whatever it is. If there's a ball involved, I love it. And so, we are excited New Yorkers. And I just want to say, I feel so proud to be standing with this team behind me that knows how to handle this. And people are going to walk away from this experience and say, yes, New York got it right. New York is the World Cup. Let me introduce our next speaker, our mayor, who's been joined at the hip with our teams to make sure that this is also wildly successful as a lifelong, die-hard soccer fan.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Thank you very much, governor. Good morning, everyone. Let's go, Knicks! What an incredible game last night. I appreciate everyone still being here this morning. So, I want to say thank you to the MTA and MTA Chair Janno Lieber for hosting us today. Thank you for being here alongside so many partners in government, including Governor Kathy Hochul, who I'm proud to work with as we ensure that this event proceeds not only safely, but seamlessly. And as the governor said, we have a number of leaders from our city government that I just want to take a moment to acknowledge. We have our DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn. We have NYCEM Commissioner Christina Farrell, our Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson, our Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Helen Arteaga, our DSNY Commissioner Greg Anderson [and] our FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore. We have citywide event coordination and management representative Dawn Tolson here, as well as a number of state partners. I say all of these names because, as the governor has said, this is truly a collaborative effort across not just agencies but also every level of government.
Now, one week from today, the World Cup will kick off in Mexico City. Two days after that, the whistle will blow at New York-New Jersey Stadium as Brazil and Morocco play the first of eight games just across the Hudson. Over the month that follows, there will be drama, there will be last-minute goals. Belgium will inevitably be called a dark horse. Some teams will seek to adopt the defensive tactics of the special one, José Mourinho. To put it bluntly, many a nation will park the bus. I'm not here to slander those who park the bus; it is a legitimate strategic approach on the field. But I am here today surrounded by city, state and leaders at every single level to make one thing clear to everyone who is watching: New York City will not be parking the bus.
The World Cup will be an enormously exciting moment for our city. But over this month to come, excellence will not only be pursued on the pitch; excellence will be pursued in the work that government will do and has done to ensure that our infrastructure, transportation networks and emergency preparedness plans are fully operational. For the past month, countless agencies, city leaders and city workers have been meeting, planning and preparing for the World Cup. We are ready for this moment, because we are New York. We know, as the governor said, how to put on big events, from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to the NBA Finals - let's go Knicks - to the UN General Assembly. We have done it before, and we will do it again. As we look forward to a summer of activity and celebration, I want to share with New Yorkers what to expect and to ask New Yorkers to take a few straightforward steps to help keep our city moving.
First and foremost, New York should plan for increased congestion and traffic delays, especially in Manhattan, where there will be some altered street and bus routes in Midtown specifically. On match days, there will be dedicated bus and shuttle lanes, two on both 5th and 6th Avenue from 42nd Street to 59th Street. 42nd Street from 1st Avenue to 12th Avenue as well as West 40th Street between 8th and 11th Avenues and West 41st Street between 8th to 10th Avenues, will be bus and shuttle blocks.
Access on these blocks and lanes will be limited to New York-New Jersey Stadium shuttle buses [and] MTA buses, as well as official World Cup vehicles and emergency vehicles. I told you that we wouldn't be parking the bus, but I do want to encourage New Yorkers traveling into Midtown to park their cars at home, take a bike, ride the subway or walk. Public transit will be running and able to get you where you need to go.
For New Yorkers lining up to take New Jersey Transit, we will close 33rd Street between 6th and 8th Avenue as well as 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues on match days. These blocks will be closed to traffic, and they will be closed at least six hours before each match. Once again, if you can avoid driving into Midtown Manhattan on a match day, I'm encouraging you to do so. There will also be restrictions placed on truck deliveries on match days. From six hours before matches kick off until three hours after each match concludes, truck deliveries will be restricted between 30th and 60th Streets. Smaller vehicles will be exempt, as will Jalen Brunson.
As with any event of this scale, New York City is scaling up our coordination structure and expanding our emergency response. We will have an emergency operations center, and we are working with partners to ensure an integrated security effort. We are prepared for everything, from high heat to flash floods to increased traffic. I also want to encourage New Yorkers to sign up for Notify NYC's new summer emergency alert program, which will share real-time notifications in English, French and Spanish, including about traffic disruptions. If New Yorkers would like to do so, they should text SUMMER26 to 692-692. Again, that's SUMMER26 to 692-692.
Throughout the World Cup, I will be sure to provide New Yorkers with constant communication. Before every match, we will share updates with New Yorkers on the news, on social media and wherever else they get their information. I will close with this. Mario Balotelli, one of the greatest strikers in recent memory, once said about his muted goal celebrations, "When I score, I don't celebrate because I'm only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?" When New York City puts on a World Cup that is organized, that is safe, that runs smoothly and easily, will we celebrate? No, because we are only doing our job. New York City has the people, the preparedness and the excellence to achieve a truly great World Cup, and working together, we will. Thank you. Now, please welcome MTA Chair Janno Lieber.
Janno Lieber, CEO and Chair, MTA: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Governor Hochul. There's an emerging theme that you've heard from the governor and the mayor, which is mass transit is what makes it possible for us to have these huge events without changing New York, without telling people to stay home. And the other theme is this is not our first rodeo. We at the MTA are accustomed, as the governor said at some length, to hosting these kinds of events. Especially every year, the US Open [welcomes] over a million people. So, moving millions is what we do, four and a half million every weekday on the subway these days, seven million including all of our different MTA operations. And keeping riders safe while we're delivering them to their destination is always the number one priority.
Now Chief Michael Kemper has led the security planning on the MTA side for the World Cup, working closely with partners at the state, local and federal levels. And we, as the governor said, participated in extensive training exercises for quite some time. This is not something that we just started getting into in the last few weeks; this has been going on for quite some time. And we are especially grateful, again, to the MTAPD and also to the NYPD, who are going to be ramping up patrols in the subway system and throughout Midtown. There are going to be plenty of eyes and ears on the ground supplemented by that network of cameras, literally tens of thousands of cameras that the governor mentioned, which are going to be monitored in real time. Before I turn it over to Commissioner Flynn, I want to touch on a few service adjustments that riders need to know about.
The good news is, as was mentioned, on match days we will have additional subway service on some key lines. We're going to run extra C trains. We're going to run extra number 1 trains. Those are the trains that go directly to Penn Station. We're going to be running extra number 7 trains for people to get in and out of those great fan fests that are - some of them are in Queens, but we'll be running service. And as we were touring the Rail Control Center, we pointed out to the mayor and the governor exactly where we lay up trains in the system so that when we have a major event, we can pump additional trains in as they are needed as crowds emerge and arrive in stations.
But on match days, there will be some changes to both bus and Access-A-Ride services in Midtown to accommodate the ground transportation plan that the City has laid out, which focuses on making sure that vehicles can get to the Lincoln Tunnel as they're heading to New York-New Jersey Stadium.
And depending on the day of the week and the kickoff times, there may be detours or stops skipped on some of those buses inside Midtown between 34th Street and 59th Street, which is the key area the City's identified. And those changes may take place for buses in the full width of the island from the FDR Drive over to West Street. It can be confusing, so we're going to have a ton of customer ambassadors on hand to assist riders at key locations throughout the tournament. The biggest need is going to be the FIFA queue area at 34th Street Penn Station and 34th Street Harold Square, the two large subway complexes. But we're also going to have people at the shuttle bus connection points at 42nd Street Port Authority, the Grand Central Terminal area, 59th Street, the Columbus Circle complex, and also at Times Square. Folks traveling to the games from Long Island - The matches are taking place to the west, but folks will be coming from Long Island. They can always transfer to New Jersey Transit at Penn. The MTA's portion of the station - this is important - the MTA's portion of the station will not be closed. It's going to be regular service for Long Island Railroad and subway customers into Penn, even on match days. But because there will be crowds on matchdays, we are urging regular commuters to consider using Grand Central Madison if you're a Long Island Railroad commuter, or even Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. It may be a faster and smoother commute for you on those match days. The TrainTime app and the MTA app, which are widely used by our customers, are going to have all the latest service information.
Like I said, I'm confident that the MTA team is up to the task. New York always has a buzz. There is a greater buzz. It's the Knicks, but it's also this amazing World Cup excitement. We're all feeling it, and we're ready to go. So with that, let me turn it over to DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn.
Commissioner Mike Flynn, Department of Transportation: Thank you, Chair. Good morning, it's a pleasure to be here as New York City prepares to help host one of the biggest sporting events in the world. New York City DOT's message to New Yorkers on local match days is simple: Find a watch party near you, have fun, and most importantly, take transit if you're traveling to Manhattan, as you've heard. And I can't stress that enough, the World Cup will be an extraordinary moment for the city, but it will also have major impacts on traffic. Whether you're going to a match, heading to work, or just going about your day, please walk, bike or take transit. With so many visitors expected, the Mamdani administration has a plan to move fans efficiently, keep streets functioning and minimize disruptions for New Yorkers.
The city's traffic plan that the mayor detailed keeps the most intensive match-day transportation activity focused in a defined part of Midtown, reducing impacts across the city and easing pressure on the transit networks New Yorker's rely on every day. New York City DOT will support these mitigations with over 100 staff involved out there to help execute it. We currently have staff going door-to-door in Midtown discussing our delivery restrictions with businesses in the area to make sure everybody's aware. Each of the eight local match days will be gridlock alert days, and we'll have public service announcements and messaging on our roads and highways discouraging vehicle traffic into Manhattan. We'll also have staff in our Traffic Management Center monitoring Midtown conditions and adjusting traffic signals in real time to help keep people moving.
And while these plans are focused on the World Cup, New York City DOT is using this special moment to deliver permanent upgrades that New Yorkers will benefit from long after the final whistle. These include street upgrades that help keep everyone safe, like expanded sidewalks and bike lanes across Manhattan, and improved access to the Brooklyn Bridge. It also includes, in Queens, where we're adding a new bus lane to improve bus service from LaGuardia Airport. Thank you to all of our partners who've helped make these plans a reality. The city's ready for this moment, and DOT is ready to do our part to help keep New York City moving. Take transit, enjoy the World Cup, and let the games begin.
Next, I'd like to invite up New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Christina Farrell.
Commissioner Christina Farrell, New York City Emergency Management Department: Good morning. As you've heard from the Governor, the Mayor and our partners, this is a huge scale of what we're preparing to host. We will have tens of thousands of fans for the World Cup. In addition, in just about a month, we'll welcome 84 ships, 20,000 sailors from 44 countries for the International Naval Review. We'll also see more than 100 aircraft take to our skies for the International Aerial Review. Of course, this on top of all the traditions we already look forward to each year: fireworks, concerts, parades, pool days and beach visits that make the summer in New York unlike anywhere else.
Of course, a summer this busy requires a lot of preparation. Our job at emergency management is to make sure all of the excitement for summer events is matched with safety, readiness and clear communication. Over the past year, we've been planning for this moment with our city, state and federal partners. We have developed detailed plans for every major event, and we have participated in more than 30 interagency tabletop exercises that simulated everything from blackouts and sudden crowd surges to flash flooding and coastal storms. The City's Emergency Operations Center is activated so that we can work with dozens of partners across the city and the region to monitor conditions in real time and respond quickly when issues arise.
As we prepare for this exciting stretch ahead, it's also a good moment for New Yorkers to get ready for the season right along with us. While the celebrations this year are big, we all face a common risk that affects every New Yorker every year. Extreme heat kills more people in the city than any other weather-related hazard, and it's especially dangerous for older adults, people with chronic illnesses and those living alone. So, this summer, we're expanding our network of cool options and working closely with community partners to make sure life-saving information reaches the people who need it most. For all New Yorkers, know your cool options. An official cooling center - such as a library, an older adult center, or even a museum - can help cool you off. And New York City parks across the city have places to hydrate, refresh and stay in the shade. Visit nyc.gov/beattheheat or call 311 to find cool options near you.
