<\/p>\n
On the heels of the city\u2019s debate over $72 roasted chickens<\/a>, as restaurant prices rise, and the average price of an NYC cocktail is $20<\/a>, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has launched six-week $26 specials in partnership with hundreds of NYC restaurants this summer. It has the ambition of the city\u2019s biannual Restaurant Week<\/a>, but it\u2019s less expensive (and maybe more fun). The kickoff is timed with the biggest sporting event, the World Cup<\/a>, starting on Thursday, June 11 and running through Sunday, July 19, with many soccer matches taking place at MetLife Stadium<\/a> in New Jersey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It should come as no surprise, since the mayor is known for his love of NYC\u2019s international restaurants<\/a>, with his visiting places in Harlem and Sheepshead Bay, focusing on his hometown borough of Queens. He even did a Taco Bell\/Dunkin\u2019 mukbang video<\/a> while announcing that those New York-based franchises had to pay workers back because of wage theft violations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, Mamdani is making sure that everyone coming to New York City to attend World Cup matches<\/a> in New Jersey this summer has an incentive to explore the local dining and drinking scenes. He\u2019s incentivizing these deals for locals, too, with $26, a lower price than many entrees at table-service Manhattan restaurants. The specials come by way of the New York City Tourism + Conventions<\/a> bureau. Participating restaurants and bars will offer $26 specials<\/a> \u2014 dubbed Five Boroughs Winners Specials \u2014 that can take the form of a prix fixe, food and drink combinations, or drink deals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The program is meant to \u201chelp working New Yorkers and visitors find a reliably priced place to eat and drink while driving more business into neighborhoods across our city,\u201d Mamdani shares via the press release. \u201cWhether you are watching the match from a restaurant in Jackson Heights, a bar in the Bronx, or a cafe in central Brooklyn, the World Cup should be something every New Yorker can take part in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A rep mentions that nearly 300 restaurants have already signed up for this deal. These include Staten Island brewery Kills Boro Brewing Company<\/a>, Harlem comfort food restaurant Red Rooster<\/a>, Rockefeller Center Korean restaurant Naro<\/a>, Jackson Heights Italian restaurant Armondo\u2019s<\/a>, Little Neck Tunisian bistro La Baraka<\/a>, Texas-style barbecue restaurant Morgan\u2019s<\/a> in Prospect Heights, and many others. The full list will be published on the city\u2019s website by the time the World Cup begins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Restaurants and bars can also opt to offer a special World Cup-themed cup designed for each borough, created by design consultant Arsh Raziuddin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The deadline remains open: businesses interested in participating in the $26 deal can register<\/a> by Wednesday, July 1. Those who want to offer the World Cup cups can sign up<\/a> by Thursday, June 11.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n