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Mega-events mean a summer of watch parties — and a $92M NYPD tab largely left to NYC
By
Charles Lane
Published Jun 2, 2026
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David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Jun 2, 2026
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A summer of back-to-back mega-events will saddle the NYPD with roughly $92 million in special-events overtime and security costs, Commissioner Jessica Tisch told the City Council on Monday — with the federal government reimbursing only a fraction of it.
The World Cup, the New York Knicks' NBA Finals matchup, Sail 250 and the nation's 250th-anniversary celebrations will be clustered into a six-week window, peaking in the first week of July. To staff them, the department will put the "vast majority" of officers on 12-hour tours that week, the commissioner said — a step she'd rather avoid.
"We did not get nearly enough reimbursement," Tisch said, shifting the financial focus to the federal government, which will be partially reimbursing the city for the excess costs.
Of the $92 million, $73 million will be spent on overtime, $12.4 million on equipment and $6.5 million on drones. The city's budget includes roughly $50 million of that total, while roughly $21 million is expected from the federal government. But that still leaves about a $20 million shortfall, according to NYPD’s budget officials.
The hefty price tag lands awkwardly for a department that has recently touted overtime discipline. Tisch said overtime had fallen 12.4% in 2025 and was running close to another 10% lower this fiscal year, thanks in part to state funding for subway patrols and pay increases for officers.
But some city councilmembers remained unimpressed.
"Why are we still spending a billion dollars in overtime?" asked Councilmember Oswald Feliz, the public safety committee chair, who called the "skyrocketing" costs "something that we don't see with any other agency."
Because the city's fiscal year runs from July through June, the costliest week — July 1 to July 7, projected at $35 million to $42 million — falls in the next budget year, meaning the $73 million in event overtime threatens to undo the department's gains.
Tisch called it "a rough start to the fiscal year" and tied the crunch to staffing, which will soon see 580 more officers. But the recruits won’t arrive in time for the summer of festivities.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backed the spending as the price of a singular summer.
"We're talking about a summer here that is generational in many ways," he said last month. "Any and all preparations the police are taking … are important, they are necessary."
Feliz pressed the commissioner on the flood of requests for public World Cup watch parties, and the NYPD signaled it may not have the staffing to permit them all.
"We don't have unlimited resources," Tisch said, adding that the city would be able to accommodate some watch parties, but not necessarily every request.
"If we had a larger headcount, it certainly would bring down the overtime budget this summer, for the special events, meaning we wouldn't have to go to the 12-hour tours," she said.
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new york city
public safety
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Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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