Sold Out Ecuador v. Nigeria Soccer Game Equals Public Safety Alert

The Ecuador v. Nigeria Game Scheduled for Thursday, June 2, 2022, has sold out meaning the population of Harrison will more than double Thursday night. The Red Bulls Arena has a capacity of 25,000 seats. The population of Harrison in the 2020 Census was just over 18,000 residents.  These are the type of events that Harrison residents and Harrison Emergency Services (Police, Fire & EMTs) dread.  International Games at the Red Bulls Arena have led to putting it nicely to over-enthusiastic fans who disregard their safety and that of others in their celebration of their soccer team.

If there is sufficient security personnel hired by the promoters of the event and Red Bull Soccer Management, prior incidents will hopefully be prevented.  The Harrison Police Department cannot be expected to handle a crowd of 25,000 and provide protection to Harrison Residents at the same time.  In addition, the Harrison Police Department should be reimbursed for additional officers required during events such as this and hopefully, someone wrote into the Red Bulls Arena Contract such a provision.

The Harrison Police Department has released a bulletin indicating “Massive Traffic Delays Are Expected”. The game is scheduled to start at 8:30 PM.

The following are street closures and times of closure:

Peter B. Higgins Blvd (between Guyon Dr. & Crucible Drive)                8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Crucible Drive (between So. Fifth Street and Peter B. Higgins Blvd)     12 noon to 11:30 p.m.

Riverbend Drive (between Frank E. Rodgers Blvd and Peter B. Higgins Blvd) 12 noon to 11:30 p.m.

No Parking Signs were placed to indicate the above No Parking Zones.

In addition, the Park-Mobile-App will deny any payment attempts for parking at any designated Park-Mobile location on Thursday, June 2, 2022.

Construction Personnel, Equipment, and Vehicles (including personal vehicles) will be ticketed and towed if they are in a No Parking Zone.

Resident Police Escorts

The Harrison Police Department will provide escorts to residents who live in SOHA (SOuthern HArrison) who desire to return to their homes during the time of the event when South Frank E. Rodgers Blvd is closed.  Staging for the escort will be located in the parking lot next to Seabras Supermarket.

The following map was provided so that residents can familiarize themselves with the location of the Designated Meeting Location.

The Harrison Police Department can be emailed at [email protected] with any questions.

The Red Bulls Arena is working hard with a Pride Night NY/NJ Gotham v. Washington Spirit Game two days later on Saturday, June 4, 2022, at 6 p.m.  Although a larger crowd is expected at the NY/NJ Gotham game, the game is not expected to sell out.  It should be a nice game to attend.

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