When
the
world
comes
to
New
Jersey
for
the
FIFA
World
Cup
in
2026,
the
focus
will
be
on
the
matches.
It
always
is.
The
crowds.
The
spectacle.
The
global
spotlight.
But
if
you
want
to
understand
where
the
real
risk
lies,
don’t
look
at
the
field.
Look
at
the
parking
plan.
Because
right
now,
there
isn’t
one.
Fans
attending
matches
at
MetLife
Stadium
are
being
told
there
will
be
no
on-site
parking
due
to
security
(the
perceived
need
to
create
a
large
security
perimeter)
and
logistical
constraints.
Instead,
they
will
be
pushed
to
public
transit
or
limited
off-site
options
—
including
roughly
5,000
parking
spots
at
the
nearby
American
Dream
complex,
reportedly
priced
at
$225
per
vehicle.
For
some
marquee
events,
even
those
options
are
already
gone.
On
paper,
this
may
sound
like
an
inconvenience.
In
practice,
it
is
something
else
entirely:
a
large-scale
redistribution
of
risk.
When
you
eliminate
parking
for
tens
of
thousands
of
attendees,
you
are
not
eliminating
demand.
You
are
forcing
behavior.
People
will
still
come
—
they
will
just
arrive
differently.
They
will
rely
on
trains,
buses,
rideshare
services,
and
long
pedestrian
routes.
They
will
converge
in
unfamiliar
areas,
at
the
same
times,
under
pressure
to
get
in
and
out
quickly.
Another
issue
with
this,
of
course,
is
whether
public
transit
and
all
of
these
alternatives
can
even
come
close
to
handling
the
expected
volume
of
people
for
each
of
these
events.
All
of
this
is
entirely
guesswork
at
this
point.
And
this
kind
of
forced
convergence
creates
predictable
conditions:
overcrowding,
bottlenecks,
confusion,
and
delay.
And
those
conditions
are
where
injuries
happen.
We
have
seen
this
before.
Not
just
at
international
sporting
events,
but
at
concerts,
festivals,
and
major
games
across
the
country.
The
danger
is
rarely
inside
the
venue.
It
is
at
the
edges
—
on
the
walk
in,
the
wait
for
transportation,
the
surge
after
the
final
whistle.
It
is
where
planning
meets
reality,
and
reality
wins.
From
a
legal
standpoint,
none
of
this
is
abstract.
Event
organizers
and
operators
have
a
duty
to
anticipate
reasonably
foreseeable
risks.
When
you
know
that
tens
of
thousands
of
people
will
be
funneled
into
limited
transit
options,
you
are
on
notice.
When
you
price
the
most
controlled
parking
option
at
a
level
that
effectively
restricts
access,
you
are
shaping
how
the
crowd
behaves.
And
when
that
behavior
leads
to
overcrowded
platforms,
chaotic
pickup
zones,
or
unsafe
pedestrian
conditions,
the
question
is
not
whether
it
was
foreseeable.
It
is
whether
it
was
preventable.
Responsibility
in
these
situations
does
not
fall
on
a
single
entity.
It
rarely
does.
FIFA
may
be
the
global
organizer,
but
local
stadium
operators,
municipalities,
transit
agencies,
and
private
contractors
all
play
a
role
in
how
people
move
safely
to
and
from
the
event.
When
something
goes
wrong
—
and
history
tells
us
that,
at
this
scale,
something
eventually
does
—
liability
will
be
shared,
examined,
and
contested.
New
Jersey
adds
another
layer
of
complexity.
Claims
involving
public
entities,
such
as
transit
systems,
are
governed
by
the
New
Jersey
Tort
Claims
Act,
which
imposes
strict
notice
requirements
and
limitations.
For
injured
individuals,
that
means
the
window
to
act
is
short,
and
the
legal
terrain
is
anything
but
simple.
All
of
this
underscores
a
point
that
should
not
be
controversial:
transportation
is
not
a
side
issue.
It
is
a
core
safety
issue.
If
the
plan
is
to
move
tens
of
thousands
of
people
without
giving
them
a
clear,
accessible,
and
reasonably
safe
way
to
arrive
and
leave,
then
what
we
are
looking
at
is
not
a
solved
logistics
problem.
It
is
an
unmanaged
risk.
The
World
Cup
will
bring
energy,
attention,
and
opportunity.
It
should
also
bring
serious,
transparent
planning
around
how
fans
will
move
through
the
environment
safely.
Not
just
inside
the
stadium,
but
well
beyond
it.
Because
when
you
design
an
event
where
80,000
people
have
no
clear
place
to
park
and
no
seamless
way
to
disperse,
you
are
not
just
testing
infrastructure.
You
are
testing
the
limits
of
responsibility.
And
those
limits
tend
to
get
defined
the
hard
way.
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.