As New York City scrambles to get ready for the World Cup, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has flagged permit applications for 25 major new events in city parks that could be denied under an emergency order intended to conserve city and police resources.
Parks officials declined to provide any details about the events under review but said the order covers only a small subset of events needing permits — ones that would require police security because of large crowds.
Though the World Cup games will be held in New Jersey, they are expected to bring an influx of visitors to New York City. The World Cup will also overlap with Fourth of July celebrations for the nation’s 250th anniversary, including a parade of ships in New York Harbor.
In connection with those maritime celebrations, known as Sail4th 250, the U.S. Coast Guard is considering measures to temporarily restrict access for commercial vessels and recreational water users in New York Harbor, Sandy Hook Bay and on the Hudson River between July 1 and 9. Kayakers and paddle boarders could be affected.
There have been growing concerns that these huge events could upend life in the New York region. Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan could be partially shut down to New Jersey commuters at certain times to accommodate the crowds heading to matches at MetLife Stadium.
The emergency parks measure, approved by the mayor on March 18, gives the Parks Department broad latitude to deny applications for new, large-scale events like concerts and festivals from June 11 to July 19. Returning events would not be affected.
Parks officials said that the Police Department will review the first batch of permit applications under the emergency order to assess “whether sufficient resources are available to ensure public safety and welfare at or around the events.” If police officials decide the resources are not available, parks officials said they will deny an application.
The vast majority of events will not be affected, they added, including birthday parties, community picnics, field days, weddings, prayer services, vigils and demonstrations. Parks officials have already approved 1,343 event permits for this June and July.
But Adam Ganser, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, an advocacy group, said that city officials should have prepared better for the World Cup. Mr. Ganser said the city should be looking to tap into the tournament’s economic opportunities instead of restricting major parks events that could benefit communities and generate more money for the city.
“We’ve known the World Cup is going to be here for several years,” he said. “It’s not a surprise to anybody, so why haven’t we been ramping up capacity to address the opportunity?”
City officials have also discouraged permit applications for new events outside parks — like fairs and festivals that would require police security — in the weeks around the World Cup and the Fourth of July. Officials said that most events that do not require police resources would be approved, while others, including those that are scheduled from July 3 to July 8, would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Already, a planned ball drop in Times Square on July 3 has been converted into a private event. Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, said that while he was disappointed, he was confident that permits could be worked out for other events “that require minimal or no city resources or events that can be managed safely with private resources.”
Gotham Park, a nonprofit group that manages a park on land beside the Brooklyn Bridge, said that it was working with city officials “to ensure summer programming can happen safely and for the benefit of the community,” including a long-planned celebration on June 21 in its skateboarding area, the Brooklyn Banks.
Rob Buchanan, a member of New York City Water Trail Association, an advocacy group for urban paddlers, said that waterfront organizations have been pushing back against possible Coast Guard restrictions in July.
“To me, the real issue here is whether or not the harbor is a public space where everyone has an equal right of access, no matter what size their vessel,” Mr. Buchanan said. “That’s what the law says, and that’s one of the things you’d think we’d be celebrating on the Fourth of July.”
In city parks, any group over 20 people must have a permit for an event, though in reality, many do not bother to get one. The Parks Department issued 18,322 special event permits in 2025, including 3,878 in June, the highest number for a single month.
These events generated $4,754,960 in city revenue last year through site fees, parks officials said.
Conservancy and nonprofit groups for some of the city’s most popular parks — including Central Park, the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park — said the emergency order has not affected their summer events.
Heather Lubov, the executive director of the City Parks Foundation, which runs the SummerStage performing arts festival, said they schedule their summer events early in the year, so all of their permits had already been approved before the emergency order.
Winnie Hu is a Times reporter covering the people and neighborhoods of New York City.
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