Gotham FC's first official game in New York City captures Big Apple's and Concacaf's beautiful chaos

Gotham played at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island on Wednesday, the site of Pele's New York Cosmos debut at Downing Stadium, which aired on CBS back in 1975

NEW YORK – A late August trip to one of New York's roughly 1,700 parks is a quintessential summertime experience in the city, as ideal a setting as any for Manhattan's first top-flight soccer match in several years.

Any survivor of New York soccer discourse is acutely familiar with the consternation about stadium locations, potential spectators currently resigned to venturing out to New Jersey or the soccer pitch jammed inside a baseball park at Yankee Stadium to watch the sport. Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island, where NJ/NY Gotham FC began their Concacaf W Champions Cup title defense with a group stage match against Monterrey on Wednesday, hits a lot of sweet spots for Gotham's first official game inside the city's limits. The island is fairly accessible from four of New York's five boroughs (Staten Island, forever the odd one out), connected to both Manhattan and Queens by three different bridges for pedestrians and bike riders with occasional NYC Ferry service. A picturesque New York excursion felt like a guarantee.

"I know there are people who are like, 'Finally! There's a game in New York,' so it's been nice to achieve that," Gotham general manager Yael Averbuch West said.