From June 11 to July 19, numerous special events—including the FIFA World Cup, US Independence Day celebrations, the International Naval Review, and other annual summer events—will take place in the New York metropolitan area.
GNYHA is working closely with our hospital members on preparedness activities and is coordinating with government agencies in New York City and New Jersey on health and medical planning. We will keep our members informed and prepared via regular updates on these special events, which are expected to bring over a million additional visitors to our area in a relatively compressed timeframe.
This digest, which we will issue periodically, is one of several tools GNYHA has developed to support your emergency preparedness activities.
Key Dates and Events
Below is a snapshot of key dates and events occurring in the New York metropolitan area. Our briefing slide deck includes additional information on these events (see attached schedule).
FIFA Games at New York/New Jersey Stadium (MetLife Stadium)
| Date | Day | Time | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 13 | Saturday | 6:00 p.m. | Brazil v. Morocco |
| June 16 | Tuesday | 3:00 p.m. | France v. Senegal |
| June 22 | Monday | 8:00 p.m. | Norway v. Senegal |
| June 25 | Thursday | 4:00 p.m. | Ecuador v. Germany |
| June 27 | Saturday | 5:00 p.m. | Panama v. England |
| June 30 | Tuesday | 5:00 p.m. | Round of 32 |
| July 5 | Sunday | 4:00 p.m. | Round of 16 |
| July 19 | Sunday | 3:00 p.m. | FIFA World Cup Final |
Key July 3 to 9 Events
| Date | Day | Event |
|---|---|---|
| July 3 | Friday | Sail 250: Tall Ships Parade East River |
| July 4 | Saturday | International Naval Review and International Aerial Review: naval forces from around the world and aircraft flyovers |
| July 4 | Saturday | Tall Ships Parade Hudson River |
| July 4 | Saturday | Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Display |
| July 5 to 8 | Sunday to Wednesday | Public Viewing of Tall Ships |
| July 6 | Monday | Veteran’s Ticker Tape Parade |
FIFA Resources
GNYHA’s website now includes a FIFA World Cup section that offers preparedness resources, including a briefing slide deck that your organization can adapt. We will continually update this section and the documents it includes as information becomes available.
FIFA26 Weekly Intelligence Roundup
The FIFA26 Intelligence Team, a unit within the FIFA organization that evaluates real-time intelligence and risk assessment, compiles and sends via email a weekly intelligence briefing that provides situational awareness and insights into safety for FIFA World Cup events.
The briefing covers all FIFA activities in North America and uses experiences from previous FIFA games, such as case studies on protest activity near the Mexico City stadium and security, crowd management, and transportation challenges in the Netherlands.
Register for this weekly briefing email here.
FIFA Hospital Summits
GNYHA will hold a series of in-person, half-day summits for members to highlight topics relevant to FIFA preparedness activities. Each summit will feature an educational portion and a facilitated discussion addressing the potential impact to hospitals during these special summer events.
Summit topics and tentative dates are:
- Burn Patient Surge, May 20 (contact Nicole Ziogas)
- Mass Decontamination and Hazardous Materials, May 27 (contact Lisa Fenger)
- Trauma Care, date TBD (contact Andrew Dahl)
We are working and coordinating with the relevant specialty groups (i.e., the Regional Trauma Advisory Council, Eastern Region Burn Disaster Consortium) to prepare for these summits and are doing direct outreach to hospitals about participation. More information is forthcoming. If you have questions or want your hospital to participate, please reach out to the lead team member listed above.
Clinical Readiness Trainings – Project ECHO
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue’s Regional Emergency Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) will host training sessions on clinical responses to threats potentially associated with the World Cup. The Project ECHO series offers expert knowledge for operational and frontline workers. Four training sessions will take place this month and in May. The topics are listed below.
| Date | Topic | Presenters |
|---|---|---|
| April 16 | Mass Casualty – Vehicular Attack and Active Shooter | Dr. Deborah Kuhls and Dr. Ian Wittman |
| April 30 | Environmental Threats – Heat Emergency, Air Quality | Dr. Jeremy Hess and local subject matter experts |
| May 14 | Bioterrorism | Dr. Beth Cameron and local subject matter experts |
| May 28 | Travel Associated Infections – Identify / Isolate / Inform | Dr. Sally Slavinski and Dr. Mary Foote |
Please complete registration for these sessions here. For more information, contact NYU Langone Health’s Amanda Chang.
New York City MRSE Functional Exercise
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will conduct the New York City Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE) the week of April 20. This year’s scenario, developed with GNYHA’s assistance, is based on a complex coordinated attack that results in a mass casualty incident.
Part 1, on April 20 at 11:00 a.m., will include a mock New York City Health & Medical Leadership Call to demonstrate how health care and government partners coordinate during the initial moments of a no-notice incident. Scenario details and additional information for hospital exercise play will be provided during this call.
During Part 2, on April 24 at 10:00 a.m. hospitals will participate in a Hospital Operations Call to discuss patient transfers, resources, and other unmet needs.
NYC hospitals participating in MRSE have already received meeting invitations to both parts of the exercise, in addition to a briefing and office hours on April 9 at 2:00 p.m. Please contact the GNYHA Emergency Preparedness Team if you have questions.
Coming Soon: Sit Stat Event Location Risk Alerts
GNYHA is developing Sit Stat’s capability to send targeted risk event notifications related to special event locations such as the FIFA World Cup matches in New York and New Jersey, including MetLife Stadium, fan festivals, and other scheduled special event sites. We will provide details on how to sign up for these event-specific risk alerts shortly. Please contact Lisa Fenger with questions.