How Cosmos could conquer the world

THERE’S no escape from the crushing heat of the post-midday sun in Flushing Meadows but its patrons are carrying on regardless.

Less than a mile from where I’m standing, well over 30,000 baseball fans are watching the New York Mets lose against their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. Closer again is the Arthur Ashe Stadium, patiently awaiting tennis’s next Grand Slam, the US Open.

The remaining 1,200 acres of parkland are bustling with activity: family barbecues, countless cricket games and football matches of wildly varying standard. Walk the winding paths and you’ll hear Trinidadian calypso boom through one set of speakers, battling valiantly with Mariachi folk songs.