by
Catherine
Ivill
–
AMA/Getty
Images)
When
people
hear
“FIFA
Fan
Festival,”
they
picture
music,
massive
video
screens,
jerseys
from
every
corner
of
the
globe,
and
crowds
flowing
in
all
day
to
watch
matches
together.
What
most
fans
do
not
picture
are
site
maps,
barricade
layouts,
power
distribution
plans,
evacuation
routes,
or
medical
staging
areas.
Those
details
are
where
these
events
succeed
or
fail.
New
Jersey
is
preparing
to
host
several
World
Cup–related
fan
festival
sites.
Current
plans
include
Riverside
Park
in
Lyndhurst,
Overpeck
Park
in
Bergen
County,
downtown
Secaucus,
downtown
East
Rutherford,
and
at
least
one
additional
location
that
has
not
yet
been
publicly
announced.
Liberty
State
Park
is
expected
to
host
the
region’s
primary
official
FIFA
Fan
Festival
during
the
tournament
window.
From
a
public
safety
standpoint,
that
is
not
one
event
repeated
several
times.
It
is
a
series
of
entirely
different
environments,
each
with
its
own
layout,
infrastructure
limits,
ownership
structure,
and
risk
profile.
I
spend
much
of
my
professional
life
looking
at
what
happens
after
large
gatherings
go
wrong.
The
same
patterns
show
up
again
and
again.
Crowd
density
builds
in
narrow
areas.
Temporary
cables
cross
walking
paths.
Rain
turns
open
ground
slick.
People
cluster
near
stages
and
screens
until
movement
slows
to
a
standstill.
Alcohol
lowers
inhibitions.
Heat
strains
medical
response.
Traffic
backs
up
and
pedestrians
spill
into
roadways.
Put
tens
of
thousands
of
people
into
a
park
and
the
issues
tend
to
revolve
around
terrain,
distance,
lighting,
drainage,
and
temporary
structures.
Grass
turns
to
mud.
Uneven
ground
disappears
under
foot
traffic.
Generators
run
in
the
background
while
cables
stretch
across
active
walkways.
Medical
teams
have
to
move
across
wide
open
spaces
instead
of
along
defined
routes.
Downtown
sites
create
a
different
set
of
pressures.
Streets
become
part
of
the
venue.
Sidewalks
turn
into
lines.
Ride
share
drop-offs
compete
with
foot
traffic.
Buildings
create
natural
choke
points.
The
focus
shifts
to
entry
and
exit
flow,
intersection
control,
and
preventing
dangerous
crowd
compression
when
people
surge
toward
a
screen
or
leave
all
at
once
after
a
match.
Fans
will
not
think
about
any
of
this.
They
will
see
FIFA
branding,
municipal
logos,
and
official
announcements
and
assume
that
the
same
baseline
level
of
safety
exists
everywhere.
That
assumption
is
reasonable.
The
challenge
is
that
“security”
is
not
a
single
box
to
check.
It
is
a
system
that
includes
screening,
perimeter
control,
staffing,
crowd
monitoring,
medical
response,
structural
integrity,
weather
planning,
and
coordination
among
multiple
agencies.
Each
site
stresses
that
system
in
different
ways.
This
is
where
the
legal
reality
enters
the
conversation,
whether
planners
like
it
or
not.
Many
of
these
venues
involve
public
property
or
public
entities.
But
they
also
involve
private
contractors,
event
operators,
security
companies,
and
vendors.
If
something
goes
wrong,
figuring
out
who
is
actually
responsible
is
not
always
straightforward.
New
Jersey’s
Tort
Claims
Act,
commonly
referred
to
as
Title
59,
is
likely
to
shape
part
of
that
analysis.
The
statute
gives
public
entities
significant
protections
and
immunities,
but
it
also
imposes
strict
procedural
rules
and
defines
when
liability
may
exist.
At
the
same
time,
private
entities
operating
within
these
events
may
face
liability
under
entirely
different
standards.
In
practice,
responsibility
is
often
shared,
contested,
and
heavily
litigated.
Two
features
of
Title
59
matter
immediately
in
the
real
world.
Claims
against
public
entities
typically
require
a
formal
notice
of
claim
within
90
days.
Miss
that
deadline
and
even
a
strong
case
can
disappear.
And
when
injuries
involve
public
property,
litigation
often
turns
on
whether
a
dangerous
condition
existed,
whether
the
risk
was
foreseeable,
and
whether
reasonable
steps
were
taken
to
address
it.
Large
fan
festivals
create
foreseeable
risks
almost
by
definition.
Crowd
surges
near
entrances.
Poor
lighting
along
walking
paths.
Cables
or
hoses
crossing
pedestrian
routes.
Barriers
that
funnel
people
too
tightly
near
stages.
Emergency
lanes
blocked
by
vendor
vehicles.
Intersections
where
vehicles
and
foot
traffic
collide.
These
are
not
unusual
scenarios.
They
are
the
kinds
of
conditions
that
show
up
repeatedly
when
events
are
examined
after
something
goes
wrong.
The
uncomfortable
truth
is
that
“festival
vibes”
do
not
replace
serious
planning.
These
events
have
to
be
treated
less
like
casual
gatherings
and
more
like
temporary
stadium
operations
built
from
the
ground
up.
That
means
realistic
capacity
limits
tied
to
physical
space,
not
optimistic
projections.
It
means
redundant
exit
routes
that
remain
visible
and
accessible,
even
at
night.
It
means
thorough
inspection
of
stages,
screens,
fencing,
and
electrical
systems,
along
with
contingency
planning
for
weather.
It
means
medical
teams
positioned
for
heat-related
illness
and
long
dwell
times.
It
means
traffic
plans
that
protect
surrounding
communities
while
keeping
pedestrian
routes
safe.
It
means
unified
command
structures
so
that
public
officials,
law
enforcement,
private
security,
medical
providers,
and
contractors
are
working
from
the
same
plan.
I
also
want
to
speak
directly
to
fans,
because
awareness
matters.
If
you
attend
one
of
these
events,
treat
it
like
a
stadium.
Take
note
of
exits
when
you
arrive.
Pay
attention
to
how
crowds
are
moving.
If
you
see
a
hazardous
condition
that
is
being
ignored,
document
it.
If
something
happens,
gather
witness
information
and
preserve
what
you
can.
And
if
the
venue
is
public
property
and
negligence
may
be
involved,
do
not
assume
you
have
unlimited
time
to
act.
Title
59
timelines
move
faster
than
most
people
expect.
The
good
news
is
that
New
Jersey
has
real
experience
hosting
large-scale
events.
The
region
has
strong
infrastructure,
seasoned
emergency
management
professionals,
and
agencies
that
have
handled
complex
operations
before.
There
is
no
reason
these
fan
festivals
cannot
become
a
model
for
how
to
host
global
events
safely.
But
once
multiple
sites
are
in
play,
the
stakes
increase.
Each
location
brings
its
own
vulnerabilities.
Fans
will
still
expect
the
same
level
of
protection.
The
law
will
still
demand
competent
planning.
And
if
something
goes
wrong,
every
decision
made
months
earlier
will
be
examined
closely.
Different
parks.
Different
streets.
Different
risks.
Same
expectation.
Let’s
make
sure
the
story
people
remember
from
2026
is
the
celebration
itself,
not
what
happens
afterward.
Michael
J.
Epstein,
a
Harvard
Law
School
graduate,
is
a
trial
lawyer
and
managing
partner
of The
Epstein
Law
Firm,
P.A., a
law
firm
based
in
New
Jersey.