Brace yourselves: NJ Transit to outline FIFA World Cup plans for NY Penn Station

Hold your breath.

The heads of NJ Transit and the FIFA World Cup New York New Jersey Host Committee are holding a press conference Friday to talk World Cup transportation plans, 60 days until the tournament kicks off in Mexico.

Eight of the games, including the final, will be played at MetLife Stadium — and transit in and around the area tends to get nightmarish at high-volume times. Plans are underway to mitigate the inevitable headaches.

That includes plans for New York Penn Station. NJ Transit expects to move about 40,000 people daily on match days, and roughly 28,000 (70%) of those people are expected to move through the Manhattan transportation hub, according to NorthJersey.com, which first reported some planned Penn Station changes earlier this week.

Those plans include a temporary diversion plan for commuters during the eight match days, four of which are weekdays. (See the full World Cup schedule, including all local matches, here.)

NorthJersey.com has said the plans involve barring commuters from accessing New Jersey-bound trains for the four hours prior to the start of matches at MetLife. The New York Times also reported on the matter.

The transit agency and host committee have not confirmed those plans to other media. Details are expected to be shared by NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri and Alex Lasry, CEO of the NYNJ Host Committee at a 9 a.m. press conference Friday. Watch it live in the player above when it starts.

Kolluri has said the eight match days will be “the most important security event we’re ever going to see in the nation. Not only is the President going to be there but 14 heads of states will be there.”

New York City, meanwhile, has made some adjustments as well. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday announced that the city would not approve permits for large-scale events this summer because of increased demand on the NYPD during the World Cup and America250 celebrations. He called it a matter of public safety.