NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul can’t make it cheaper for you to get — or go — to the World Cup. But they can make the parties free. In the name of affordability, Mamdani and Hochul say NYC will host five free official FIFA Fan Fest events, one in each borough, featuring l ive viewings, local food offerings and more. Mamdani said the events initially weren’t intended to be free, but “the world’s game should belong to the world.” The Democrat says he and the governor together decided they wanted to give people an opportunity to watch in that kind of fan-tastic ambience at zero cost to the fan. The locations include: Manhattan: Rock Center Queens: USTA Tennis Center Staten IsIand: Ferry Hawks Park Bronx: Bronx Terminal Market Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bridge Park World Cup costs have been staggering. A war of words between FIFA and New York/New Jersey has played out publicly in recent weeks, with the governors of both states demanding that the soccer group foot some of the bill for World Cup transit costs. FIFA says that’s never been part of the host cities’ agreement. NJ Transit, facing an estimated $48 million in World Cup-related costs, got Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s permission to raise its fares — to $150 for a round-trip ticket from the city to MetLife Stadium. There are eight matches and the final is on July 19. The starting price for those tickets topped $10,000 — and that’s for the cheapest seats. Four tickets to the final on FIFA’s resale website are listed at over $2 million. FIFA is expected to rake in nearly $11 billion from this summer’s World Cup, government officials have said. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less