Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Where is the World Cup being played again?<\/p>\n
In the northeastern United States, eight World Cup games, including the final, will be played in what FIFA calls “New York New Jersey.” But elected leaders from this portmanteau place are jostling over where exactly it is.<\/p>\n
The state of New Jersey and New York City bid for and won the right to be a host city, but New York state officials have become increasingly involved. So politicians on both sides of the river are just bursting with border-state rivalry that can be lighthearted and serious all at once.<\/p>\n
The matches, for the record, are at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. But that hasn’t stopped New York Gov. Kathy Hochul from repeatedly declaring that “New York is not just hosting the World Cup, New York is the World Cup.”<\/p>\n
There’s some truth to it \u2014 most of the fans are expected to stay in and visit New York between matches. But New Jersey doesn’t shrug off such slights because they reinforce long-running dynamics of New York as the bigger sibling and the Garden State’s struggle for recognition.<\/p>\n
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) made avenging this wrong a dayslong cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre and taunted Hochul with social media posts such as: \u201cIf you\u2019re planning to watch a FIFA match in New York, you\u2019ll be SOL.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill pushed to get one of the temporary signs hung at MetLife changed to read “New Jersey New York” instead of “New York New Jersey.” On Friday, she posted a six-second video from outside the sign. “For those keeping score at home, the World Cup is in New Jersey. And now the sign reflects that.”<\/p>\n
The New York-New Jersey combo isn’t new.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never liked it,\u201d said former U.S. national team goalkeeper Tony Meola, a native of nearby Kearny, New Jersey, who was subjected to the indignity of playing under a neighboring state\u2019s banner during his years with the New York\/New Jersey Metrostars, since renamed Red Bull New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up there, I played there \u2014 it\u2019s New Jersey,\u201d said Meola. \u201cThat’s just my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n