Zohran Mamdani has held just two major public events in the lead-up to the New York City mayoral election on November 4 — and one of them was a soccer tournament.
To jar your memory, the first was the scavenger hunt that took place in August, when thousands of New Yorkers crossed the boroughs to solve puzzles that related to the mayoral history of the city. The second was the "Cost of Living Classic" that took place on Sunday, a 5-a-side tournament in partnership with NYC Footy that saw 32 teams compete in a day-long soccerfest on the turf field at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, home to the Brooklyn Cyclones and Brooklyn FC.
If the scavenger hunt was a way to get the public to engage with the office Mamdani hopes to hold, the Cost of Living Classic was an excuse for an epic kick around in a minor league stadium.
"A New York City Mayor? Who loves soccer as much as we do? Never in my wildest dreams," said Christian Polanco, the comedian and soccer personality who emceed the event, and who is one half of the Cooligans.
Zohran Mamdani, soccer sicko
It shouldn't come as a complete surprise that Mamdani would elect to host a tournament a little more than two weeks ahead of Election Day. The candidate played on the soccer team at the Bronx High School of Science, joined Spike Lee in Fort Greene last month to watch Arsenal draw Manchester City with a thrilling stoppage-time equalizer, and made international headlines when he came out against FIFA's use of predatory dynamic pricing that's driving up the cost of tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Zhoran Mamdani scores for Bronx High School of Science | Courtesy Zhoran Mamdani
