In the Little Haiti neighborhood, as in other parts of the city, New York City’s city council is trying to connect its immigrant neighborhoods to the World Cup, despite the atmosphere of discouragement that has settled in communities weakened by the Donald Trump administration’s immigration policies.
In this area of Flatbush, Brooklyn, which is a bit reminiscent of Port-au-Prince, the once-busy shopping streets are now noticeably quieter.
Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term, in January 2025, Mahalia Desrosiers, project manager for the local association Little Haiti BK, has seen some businesses close their doors, even though the neighborhood has not been the target of police raids like in other cities.
But with Haiti participating in the World Cup for the first time in 52 years, the event can “give people a sense of life, of hope, of energy,” she said.
“The Haitians are going to put their flag everywhere. We are going to paint this city red and blue,” he enthuses.
Before kickoff, on June 11, teams from the city council, led by Democrat Zohran Mamdani, son of Indian immigrants, visit different communities to raise awareness about the commercial opportunities linked to football’s biggest event.
New customers?
The city’s tourism department is preparing a calendar of events so that visitors can experience the matches in these neighborhoods, and not just in the tourist areas of Manhattan.
Short videos promoting the broadcasts will also be published on social media.
Another program will provide tournament-related promotional cups to bars and restaurants. Around 600 establishments have already signed up.
With the World Cup, “it’s an opportunity to reach a new market, a new group of people who might not have frequented your establishment before,” Jacques Brunvil of the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) tells merchants.
By expanding outreach efforts to the other popular neighborhoods of Queens and the Bronx, Brunvil envisions the city as the stage for a kind of traveling sports festival that celebrates New York’s diversity.
“We believe that, depending on the matches, we will see groups of people moving to different neighborhoods: Little Haiti to watch a Haiti game or Little Senegal (in Harlem) for a Senegal game… People will move around to feel the emotion together with the fans of each country”, he states confidently.
R$3,000 entry
In general, according to political representatives, it is difficult to quantify the economic impact of the stricter immigration measures adopted by the federal government, which are causing an increase in deportations.
Haris Kahn, head of SBS, recently stated that the World Cup “will not completely erase a year and a half of difficulties for some of these establishments. But it will be important.”
At Golden Blue Bar & Restaurant in Little Haiti, business has been choppy since opening in 2020: first the pandemic and, more recently, concerns surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
But Amantha Chery, who helps run her parents’ restaurant, is confident that the community will flock to bars and restaurants during the World Cup, which will also be held in Mexico and Canada.
Tickets for Haiti’s first match against Scotland, on June 13, in Boston, Massachusetts, are selling for more than US$600 (R$3,000) on the StubHub platform. High prices that, she wants to believe, “are better” for traders.
The restaurant, known for its fried bananas and breading, has two televisions in the main room, as well as a balcony where a big screen can be installed.
“It’s been difficult the way Haiti has been portrayed in the press… the narrative that ‘Haiti is so dangerous,’ all of that,” she laments. “But there is so much resilience and beauty in our culture, in our people. I’m happy that we’re finally in the press for something extraordinary.”
