Updated February 10, 2026

By VIP Black’s Car Services
Licensed Chauffeured Transportation in NY, CT, MA, PA & NJ.

What’s the Feb 11 Highline 9 arrival and pickup plan for FIFA at NY Fashion Week?

You’re not looking up FIFA World Cup mascots New York Fashion Week because you need a recap. You’re looking it up because you want to show up, get a photo, and leave without burning 25 minutes in West Chelsea grid. FIFA is promoting a free meet-and-greet during New York Fashion Week on Feb 11, 2026 at 12pm ET at Highline 9, with Marco Materazzi and the Official Mascots.

This guide is a curb-and-crowd plan: the best approach streets around Hudson Yards / West Chelsea, where to stage a pickup when the frontage is jammed, and a two-line “meet the car” text that works when NYFW foot traffic turns every sidewalk into a moving line.

Key Points

• Event fact pattern: FIFA lists a free meet & greet on Feb 11, 2026 (12pm ET) at Highline 9 with Marco Materazzi + Official Mascots.
• Highline 9 entrances: 507 West 27th St and 508 West 28th St (West Chelsea).
• NYFW timing: CFDA’s preliminary schedule shows NYFW activity starting Feb 11 through Feb 16, 2026, which is why curb space feels “normal” until it suddenly doesn’t.
• If you stop in a bus lane during operating hours, NYC lists fines $50–$250; bus-lane streets in Manhattan punish “quick waits.”

What’s happening Feb 11

It’s a midday NYFW crowd + a World Cup pop-up, which means fast arrivals and messy exits.

• FIFA’s listing: Feb 11, 2026, 12pm ET, Highline 9, Marco Materazzi + Official Mascots, free meet-and-greet.
• Why it spikes: NYFW activity is live that week; West Chelsea already runs hot at midday.
• Venue geometry: Highline 9 sits under/along the High Line corridor with two street entrances (27th and 28th), so the “front door” depends on which entrance you pick.

Highline 9 event pickup basics

Choose one entrance, one corner, one fallback. Anything else turns into circling.

• Primary addresses: 507 W 27th St and 508 W 28th St. Pick the one you’ll use before you arrive.
• Crowd behavior: if your group exits on different streets, you lose time regrouping and the car loses time looping.
• The clean pattern: passenger walks to the meet point first, then texts. The messy pattern: car arrives first and waits.

NYFW West Chelsea pickup plan

One-line overview: West Chelsea “works” when you avoid avenue-front waits and use a short-walk meet.

• 10th/11th Ave blocks near Hudson Yards can stall without warning as cars stack and delivery stops pile up.
• Side streets (27th/28th) are the workable chessboard: you can set a specific corner and keep the car moving.
• If a bus lane is active on your approach street, treat it like “no waiting.” NYC’s bus-lane rules spell out fines for standing/parking during bus-lane hours.

The approach streets that behave best

One-line overview: Your approach is about avoiding the last two turns that trap cars behind double-parks.

• Best “get-in” spine for many trips: West Side Highway / 9A to a single controlled turn east, then down a side street.
• Avoid “lane-hunt” turns near the Lincoln Tunnel queue when it’s stacking; check crossing conditions if you’re coming from NJ. The Port Authority’s CrossingTime app shows live bridge/tunnel conditions.
• If you need a live reality check inside the city, NYC DOT points to 511NY for real-time traffic events and cameras.

Arrival + exit choices for Highline 9

Pick a row that fits your start point and commit to the meet point before you step onto the sidewalk.

Starting area	Best arrival approach	Drop plan	Pickup plan (no-circling)	Why it works
Midtown West (Times Sq / Penn)	Side streets westbound, avoid avenue dwell	Drop on W 28th near entrance	Meet at 28th & 10th (corner)	Corners are visible; fewer mid-block stops
Midtown East (Grand Central)	West Side Highway → single turn	Drop on W 27th entrance side	Meet at 27th & 10th (corner)	One clean approach turn, one clean escape
Downtown (FiDi / Tribeca)	West Side Highway up	Drop on the less crowded of 27/28	Meet one block west/east if curb is packed	Short walk beats looping
NJ inbound	Check CrossingTime → choose tunnel timing	Drop fast, car clears immediately	Passenger walks to corner, then texts	Tunnel delay + curb delay stack fast
Rideshare fallback	Use app pin on cross-street corner	Do not request from inside venue	Stand at corner first	Reduces “driver stuck mid-block” misses

Do this / don’t do this at West Chelsea curbs

These rules keep your driver out of tickets and keep you out of missed links.

Do this

• Do a corner meet, not a “front door” meet. Corners are easier to spot in crowds.
• Text only when you’re physically at the curb.
• If the frontage is jammed, shift one block and treat it as normal.

Don’t do this

• Don’t request a pickup while you’re still inside Highline 9.
• Don’t stand in a bus stop zone or on bus-lane frontage and hope the car can “just stop.” NYC’s bus lane rules describe fines for standing/parking during bus-lane hours.
• Don’t split the group across 27th and 28th without a plan; you’ll double your wait.

Timing that works for a 12pm event

Midday arrivals fail when people try to arrive exactly at noon.

• Target arriving 20–35 minutes before the listed start if you care about being near the front.
• If you’re doing photos quickly and leaving, decide your pickup corner before you enter.
• If you’re staying in the neighborhood afterward, do your pickup later; the first wave out is the loudest.

(Your best “saved minutes” are usually on the way out, not on the way in.)

The “12:00 PM crowd clock” timing chart (how not to arrive into the crush)

West Chelsea doesn’t ramp up smoothly, it flips. If you show up at 11:55, you’re competing with everyone who “just needed five more minutes,” plus NYFW foot traffic drifting in from Hudson Yards. The easiest win is arriving early enough to choose your entrance calmly (W 27th vs W 28th) and not get pinned behind a sidewalk photo cluster.

Timing chart for a 12:00 PM Highline 9 event

Arrival time at Highline 9	What it feels like	Your best move
11:15–11:30	Calm; you can walk and choose entrance	Drop on the correct street (27th or 28th), lock your pickup corner before you go in
11:30–11:45	Noticeable lines forming; still manageable	Do your photos fast, then move inside; text your group “we exit on ___” now
11:45–12:05	Peak surge; sidewalk becomes a slow lane	Don’t fight for “front door” pickup later—pre-commit to a corner meet
12:05–12:25	People exit/re-enter; curb gets messy	If leaving now, walk 1 block first, then request pickup
After 12:25	Waves thin out	Pickup becomes easier; you can be more flexible

“Highline 9 event pickup” meet-point menu (no map needed)

A good NYFW pickup plan works even if your phone is at 9% and your group chat is chaos. The key is using a meet sentence that only has three parts: cross-street + avenue + corner. Not “outside,” not “near the entrance,” not “by the vibes.”

Meet-point menu (choose one and commit)

If you exit from…	Use this meet point	Why it works
507 W 27th side	W 27th & 10th Ave (corner)	Corner visibility + easier for the car to roll past once
508 W 28th side	W 28th & 10th Ave (corner)	Keeps you out of mid-block congestion near the entrances
Sidewalk feels jammed	Walk 1 block, then meet at the next corner	A 60-second walk beats a 10-minute loop in West Chelsea
Group is splitting	Pick one corner and make everyone come to it	One car + one meet point beats two cars + confusion

If you remember one rule for NYFW West Chelsea pickup plan, make it this: the car should only have to pass the meet point once. Corners let that happen. Mid-block pickups force the driver to slow, stop, and wait—exactly what turns a normal exit into a 25-minute mess.

“If curb is jammed” decision tree + the 2-line script upgrade

West Chelsea jams aren’t random. They happen when three things overlap: a delivery truck stops mid-block, rideshares stack with hazard lights, and pedestrians spill off the curb. When that happens, don’t negotiate with the curb. Run a simple decision tree.

Quick decision tree (printable logic)

What you see	Do this	Why it saves time
Car can’t legally stop near you	Walk to the corner immediately	Corners are the only predictable meet point in crowds
Driver is circling	Stop moving and send “AT CORNER” only when planted	Moving targets cause loops
You’re on the wrong side of the street	Cross at the light, not mid-block	Mid-block crossings cause missed links and delays
Group is scattered	Pick one “anchor phone” and one corner	One communicator = faster regroup

Two copy/paste texts that work in NYFW foot traffic

Short is stronger. Give the corner, give the rule, end the discussion.

Text 1 (default):
“Highline 9 event pickup: meet me at [W 27th & 10th] (corner). Please be curbside and text CURBSIDE when you’re there.”

Text 2 (crowd-proof):
“NYFW West Chelsea pickup plan: walk to [W 28th & 10th] (corner). Stay together. Text AT CORNER and I’ll roll in.”

Chauffeur’s Pro Tip

A West Chelsea pickup succeeds when you stop treating the curb like reserved seating. The “front door” is a magnet for three things: double-parks, deliveries, and confused rideshares doing sudden stops.

My working rule for Highline 9: choose the corner that matches your exit street, then move the passenger, not the car. If the curb looks blocked, I’d rather you walk 60 seconds than have the vehicle do three loops. Three loops is how you lose 20 minutes and start making risky stops.

FAQs

Conclusion

This is the whole play: arrive with one entrance picked, leave with one corner meet picked. For the Feb 11 FIFA pop-up at Highline 9, the crowd piece is the easy part; the curb piece is what eats time. FIFA’s listing gives you the “what/when/where.” Your job is making the last 300 feet behave.

Keep it simple: corner meet, curbside-only text, no circling. West Chelsea rewards the person who decides the meetup before the sidewalk decides for them.