NYPD says overtime to secure July 4 holiday events could hit $92M

The NYPD estimates that mandatory 12-hour shifts ordered by Commissioner Jessica Tisch for the week of July 4 celebrations and a FIFA World Cup match could cost the city up to $92 million and add to an already stretched overtime budget.

Tisch made the call for extra officer overtime to provide adequate security and crowd control for the holiday weekend of festivals and events, like the Sail 4th 250 and a July 5 World Cup round-of-16 match at MetLife Stadium.

“All of these taken together are unprecedented and are going to put demands on the New York City Police Department,” Tisch told a City Council budget hearing on Monday.

At the hearing, Kristine Ryan, deputy NYPD commissioner for management and budget, said the overtime estimates of between $35 million and $42 million for the July 1 to July 7 period will possibly grow to $92 million when the World Cup match in East Rutherford, New Jersey and the festival of tall ships in New York Harbor are taken into account.

The 12-hour shifts will affect most of the NYPD uniformed personnel, from patrol officers to chiefs, Tisch told the council. The overtime hit comes at the very start of the fiscal 2027 budget year.

“It is going to be a rough start in the fiscal year for overtime," the commissioner added, "keep that in mind for next year’s overtime hearings."

Tisch said overtime through the end of fiscal 2026, which ends June 30, is expected to total $1.013 billion, down about 10% from fiscal 2025.

Tisch acknowledged that the city, under the administration of former Mayor Eric Adams, didn’t manage police overtime in any meaningful way. Allegations of NYPD overtime abuse have triggered a number of investigations and led to the resignation of Jeffrey Maddrey, the former chief of department.

Ryan noted that funding of about $70 million in the July overtime has been accounted for in city funding but that a shortfall of just over $20 million still exists.

Tisch told the city council that FIFA and the federal government haven’t given enough to cover overtime expenses, although Ryan noted that FIFA has provided $14.1 million for police overtime so far, as well as $6.5 million for counter-drone expenses. 

Security concerns Tisch said, would be paramount for the FIFA events and various fan watch parties.

“FIFA is an international name and therefore a target,” said Tisch

Chief of Department Michael LiPetri, who is responsible for security preparations, said the NYPD will have counterterrorism screening of buses in a special zone on 42nd Street in Manhattan.

Some 200 buses will be used to move fans from Manhattan to MetLife Stadium, for the soccer match, with two police officers with each bus until they leave the city, he said.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.