On the heels of the city’s debate over $72 roasted chickens, as restaurant prices rise, and the average price of an NYC cocktail is $20, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has launched six-week $26 specials in partnership with over 500 NYC restaurants this summer. It has the ambition of the city’s biannual Restaurant Week, but it’s less expensive (and maybe more fun). The kickoff is timed with the biggest sporting event, the World Cup, starting on Thursday, June 11 and running through Sunday, July 19, with many soccer matches taking place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
It should come as no surprise, since the mayor is known for his love of NYC’s international restaurants, with his visiting places in Harlem and Sheepshead Bay, focusing on his hometown borough
of Queens. He even did a Taco Bell/Dunkin’ mukbang video while announcing that those New York-based franchises had to pay workers back because of wage theft violations.
Now, Mamdani is making sure that everyone coming to New York City to attend World Cup matches in New Jersey this summer has an incentive to explore the local dining and drinking scenes. He’s incentivizing these deals for locals, too, with $26, a lower price than many entrees at table-service Manhattan restaurants. The specials come by way of the New York City Tourism + Conventions bureau. Participating restaurants and bars will offer $26 specials — dubbed Five Boroughs Winners Specials — that can take the form of a prix fixe, food and drink combinations, or drink deals.
The program is meant to “help working New Yorkers and visitors find a reliably priced place to eat and drink while driving more business into neighborhoods across our city,” Mamdani shares via the press release. “Whether you are watching the match from a restaurant in Jackson Heights, a bar in the Bronx, or a cafe in central Brooklyn, the World Cup should be something every New Yorker can take part in.”
A rep mentions that nearly 300 restaurants have already signed up for this deal. These include Staten Island brewery Kills Boro Brewing Company, White Horse Tavern in the Financial District, and many others. The full list will be published on the city’s website by the time the World Cup begins.
Restaurants and bars can also opt to offer a special World Cup-themed cup designed for each borough, created by design consultant Arsh Raziuddin.
The deadline remains open: businesses interested in participating in the $26 deal can register by Wednesday, July 1. Those who want to offer the World Cup cups can sign up by Thursday, June 11.
The $26 dining deal coincides with Mamdani’s neighborhood passport program, where people can collect stamps by going to neighborhoods, museums, and events across the five boroughs. The passports are available at all New York Public Library locations.
