From Polish Greenpoint to Ecuadorian Corona, New Yorkers are getting World Cup ready. Messi and Vini Jr. jerseys are in stock and on sale. Sports bars are hanging flags and declaring their allegiances to Portugal, England, Spain, or Brazil.

But the City of New York itself is less prepared for a massive influx of enthusiastic visitors and celebrating locals. We need to get World Cup-ready — and that starts with our streets.

This summer, the World Cup will bring hundreds of thousands of spectators to New York, New Jersey, and all the bridges and tunnels in between. Huge numbers of people will need to travel across the Hudson, and even larger numbers will seek to gather, watch, and cheer their team in New York City.

From the roads between Midtown hotels and the matches at MetLife Stadium to spillover sidewalk crowds outside sports bars, the World Cup could be a congested, overcrowded nightmare — or a huge opportunity.

To get World Cup-ready, the city needs to ease transportation around the five boroughs and between New York and Jersey. We need to create new ways for New Yorkers and visitors alike to come together, to watch matches outdoors, and to walk, bike, and ride the bus in between.

Luckily for the Mamdani administration, there is a clear, recent, and excellent example of how to prepare: the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo transformed transportation access and efficiency ahead of the influx of Olympic visitors. Hidalgo focused on helping people move around the city on foot, by transit, and by bike. Paris created a robust shuttle bus service, running every minute with exclusive lanes reserved for buses and Olympic athletes, and increased Metro service citywide, including a 70% increase on the busier routes.

The city added 34 miles of new bike routes, 46,000 rental bikes, and more than 27,000 bike parking spaces. And perhaps most importantly, Paris pedestrianized much of the city center, including the banks of the Seine. With these changes, Parisians and visitors alike could come together to enjoy the Games.

Mayor Mamdani has significantly less time to prepare for the World Cup than Hidalgo’s multi-year lead-up to the Olympics, but he can still follow her lead.

To facilitate travel between New York and New Jersey, designate bus-exclusive corridors between Manhattan and MetLife Stadium. Work with the MTA to run one-stop express routes, shuttle bus style, between destinations. And because matches and celebrations will inevitably run into off-peak hours, make the Lincoln Tunnel’s morning-only bus lanes run 24/7.

For those without tickets to the in-person match, New York should create public spaces to watch the games. Car-free “World Cup” Open Streets, especially around local sports bars or in primetime viewing locations like Times Square, will be critical.

Even when MetLife isn’t playing host, fans are spilling out of crowded bars and into the street. It’s important that we give soccer fans a safe way to watch, cheer, and come together.

It’s not good enough to just have viewing destinations; Mamdani must also help New Yorkers travel to them. Dedicated streets or lanes for buses and bikes should connect neighborhoods and viewing hot spots, so every New Yorker can get to the viewing party.

And in the tradition of cities around the globe and New York’s own Summer Streets, we should organize celebratory “march to the match” events, encouraging New Yorkers to bike and walk together.

The World Cup is only 87 days away. Let’s get World Cup-ready now.

Furnas is executive director of Transportation Alternatives.

© NY Daily News