Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears Live on BBC Sports Radio
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
It's been incredible. First of all, it's great to be here. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being in our beautiful city. And the start that the US Men's National Team has had, it's given everyone just a sense of real excitement. We always hope and pray for the host nation's bump. But what we've seen from these first two games [is] that tonight is not a decider, but rather an option to see more players. That's more than we could ever ask for.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceIt's hard to compare anything to the Knicks. You know, we waited 53 years to win that championship. I will say that it does feel like New Yorkers have an extra spring in our step. And, you know, tonight we're very excited because we're going to be broadcasting the USA [vs.] Türkiye game on a number of kiosks that we have around New York City – LinkNYC kiosks.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWhen you're walking around New York City, you'll see these-kind-of-larger kiosks on a number of sidewalks, and you'll see [they'll] give you the weather; there'll be different updates [and] sometimes there are advertisements. And what we started doing with the Knicks is broadcasting the game on those kiosks. So, you could just be walking around the city, and you can catch the game and we're going to be doing that tonight as well for USA.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceIt feels like the Knicks transformed the biggest city in the country into the smallest town in the world. It feels like they created a fabric that connects all of us. And it didn't matter whether you've been watching this team for decades or you just started watching it in the final games. But everybody was living and breathing this team. And it felt as if time stopped when the games began. And the beautiful thing was some of it was organized [and] some of it was beautifully unorganized. You know, we would watch – you'd go out and you'd watch the game at a bar, or you'd be in a backyard or at a friend's place. There'd be people who'd just be broadcasting the game on the wall across the street. And I think it just spoke to this energy that this team gave this entire city and the fact that the city could look at the team and see themselves, not just in the players. You know, Jose Alvarado grew up in New York City in public housing and is a son of Brooklyn and Queens, but also in the way that the team played. They really embodied the spirit of the city.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think it's shown us the intangible value of this game, one that sometimes is derided as if it's a distraction. It is a cornerstone of how people understand themselves in the world around. And, you know, you're asking me questions about New York City. Eight and a half million people live in New York City. And in the largest city in the United States of America, it can also feel quite lonely sometimes for people. It can feel as if they're alienated from those around them. And these are moments that bring people together. And I'll tell you that for me, just individually, before I was the mayor, sports have just always been such a way that I've understood who I am, what I believe in [and] how I build my day. And I think that part of fighting back against the commodification of sport, the insistence that it becomes yet another luxury product, is also a recognition of what it provides so many people, not just in those 90 minutes or, you know, additional time. But frankly, even what it represents to so many more.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceAnd I learned something that most people don't understand, which is that anyone can be nationally ranked because no one ever asks you, "Where are you ranked?" You just have to be national. So, you know, I was probably one of the lowest-ranked national chess players in America. But initially I fell in love with chess. And then very quickly it became soccer, football.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think, honestly, it was just the people around me. It was as if there was a group of maybe eight or ten of us who just joined this club together. And so as much as it's a solitary game, I remember it more as a collective where we would travel together [and] play together. There would be a grandmaster who'd be walking around the room. He'd play a move against all of us. We'd be trying to scheme against him. And the excitement of testing your mind and growing your friendships at the same time. Obviously, it didn't stand a chance once I discovered the beautiful game, and, you know, [when I was] starting to play, [I was] maybe I was about seven or eight – Every now and then. You don't understand how out of shape you are until you try. Mentally still out of shape, but you feel less embarrassed. But with – I mean, the other day we were playing pickup, and I felt something in my lungs. I didn't even know–
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think you just have to be honest. And I think that that honesty – sometimes it can even be an acknowledgment within it. And the beautiful thing about this moment is it is a moment for every New Yorker. There isn't a threshold of how much you have to know to be a part of this, to celebrate this. I think the important thing for me was, how do we take what these moments typically are when it's a politician standing in front of people at the celebration of a team that has accomplished this momentous thing and bring the focus back to the team as opposed to the self? And if talking about the self and understanding yourself as a New Yorker more than as the mayor. And I think for anyone who wants to purely understand this in [a] sporting senses, they also misunderstand what it meant to the city. And we're talking about 53 years' worth of memories, worth of hope [and] worth of heartbreak. And we all know as fans and here also as players. Every year you tell yourself it's the year, you both believe it and you also protect yourself from fully letting yourself into it and to finally letting that guard down and believing and knowing that it's real. It was just a beautiful thing to be able to be one part of it.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI am. I'm happy here in New York City. I think that we've made it clear from the beginning we wanted this to be a World Cup for everyone. And especially when you first saw those ticket prices, there was a fear as to how would everyone be able to be a part of this? And so, I'm proud of the fact that we secured 1,000 tickets at $50. This was part of what I had been running on, saying that we should continue the FIFA precedent of having discounted tickets for local residents and that we've also been able to secure making the Fan Fests, one in each borough, free. When I came into office, they were going to charge for them. And we did the work to make sure we took away that cost. And then also to make this an experience of the city. You know, I love that we're here and we're talking about this not at the stadium but at a restaurant. And it speaks to the fact that we also want this to be a moment for tourists, as well as New Yorkers alike, to be able to rediscover their own city. We have 900 bars and restaurants [that] have enrolled in a program where it's a $26 meal deal. And we want that to also be synonymous with this tournament: affordability and everyone being able to do it.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, I think that – what you also – I've said this earlier, what we are also coming up against is this tournament means different things to different people. And in sport at large, there is this ever-increasing pressure for profit, for revenue. And that creates a tension with those of us who want this to be more of a memory and an experience that is in reach for everyone. And I think, you know, New Jersey Transit, for example, has tickets to get to the stadium that are about $100. And it's a decision that they've made. I also empathize with the fact they had to make that decision because they did that so that they wouldn't be running a loss. And part of that is a reflection of the host city agreement with FIFA. And I think that there's more than enough money that's generated in this World Cup, as well as any World Cup, for those kinds of costs to be covered so that fans are not the ones trying to have to bridge that deficit.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think we will benefit from this summer. I think that to your point, one thing I'm thankful for is a lot of the stadium infrastructure that is being used for this tournament is not being built specifically for this tournament; it's being repurposed. And that means that there's less of the albatross of the white elephant that hangs over you. One thing we've also tried to do is make sure that any investments we make this summer are lasting investments, because we want this to be a moment where when you're at the next World Cup and the next World Cup and the next World Cup, you can look back at the U.S. men's national team and see a new player from New York City who got their start at a 24/7 soccer field that we opened this World Cup or got their start because we put the investment in additional lighting for night games.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYeah, I think that there's a difference in having the president at Madison Square Garden, which is immediately surrounded by an area where pedestrians [and] public transit [are] versus the New York-New Jersey Stadium, which is one that has a lot more of a buffer zone, to put it in one way, with the larger public. So, I think that they're very much prepared for that. And I think that we're very excited that we'll be having that final here very soon.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceLet's not even introduce that possibility; I cannot be president.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI don't think anything comes with ease at that kind of a level. I do think they are very important skills because many people have lost faith in government. The place [where] they earn that faith back or they decide to trust again is at the most local level. That's where they see what it can look like to have a government that delivers for them. And if you're able to respond to people, whether it's in Greater Manchester or New York City, it is at the heart of what people are looking for [in] any kind of politics. So, I wish him well. I don't think he's an Arsenal supporter, though. I mean, at least you can respect that someone has suffered for a long time. No, but like I like it when I meet someone who's a fan of a team that hasn't just won and won and won.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI do. I do. I mean – but I feel so old now because when I think about the players that I would watch on the England cricket team – I don't know about favorite, but I just remember the days of, like, Freddie Flintoff, James Anderson, you know, Kevin Pietersen. You know, I go to his Twitter and I'm just like, what is going on? But, you know, those are the – I mean, I even remember the commentators who obviously were former players, but like I just grew up with listening to Nasser Hussain. I mean, these are like the seminal [ones]. We all grow up when you're watching Test match cricket. These are the players you remember. [Crosstalk.]
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears Live on BBC Sports Radio.