John Kim Jordan Brand is bringing together some of the Lower East Side’s most influential cultural institutions for a day centered around football and community.
Taking place in the heart of downtown Manhattan, Copa Do Lower East Side unites eight neighborhood staples— Awake, LAAMS, Scarr’s Pizza, Cafe Colmado, Luke’s, Cellar 36, Bar Asoko, and BRUT—for a friendly football outing and celebration that will go beyond the pitch. Food, music, and community programming will accompany the matches, adding to an authentic atmosphere that reflects the diverse energy that has long defined the boroughs.
Each of the participating storefronts serve a different purpose within the LES neighborhood, and all have become important cultural connectors in their own right by bringing together New Yorkers across generations through fashion, food, hospitality, art, and sport. Collectively, they represent the kind of grassroots community that has always helped shape the city’s identity.
Copa Do Lower East Side feels like an extension of what already happens throughout New York’s public parks every weekend. Across the city—particularly within Hispanic and Latino communities—local parks become gathering places where football, music, food, and family naturally intersect. “I wanted to bring Flushing Meadow Park to the Lower East Side,” says Angelo Baque, Queens native and founder of Awake NY. Pickup matches stretch for hours, spectators line the sidelines, and entire communities come together around a shared love of the game. That energy has long been one of football’s most authentic expressions, but it’s also a reminder that a sport’s greatest strength isn’t just what happens on the field.
Through this weekend event, Jordan Brand appears intent on bringing that same spirit to the Lower East Side, investing in the people that already live and breathe the sport and are driven by community. Awake NY is also expected to release a limited edition jersey this weekend to coincide with the event.
Copa Do Lower East Side is free to the public and will take place at Seward Park with doors opening at 2PM ET.
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