New York City 2012 Olympic bid

Olympic bid|2012|Summer
winner = London
runner-up = Paris
shortlisted1 = Madrid
shortlisted2 = Moscow
shortlisted3 = New York City
logo=
fullname=New York City, NY, USA
committee=U.S. Olympic Committee
history=None
result=Eliminated in the 2nd round of voting
score=7.5
notes=Scored fourth at 7.5, although it scored first in the "Accommodation" category, sharing a 10 with Paris and London.

The New York City 2012 Olympic bid was one of the five short-listed bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics, ultimately won by London 2012.

New York City's Olympic Bid, run by the private non-profit organization NYC2012, was founded by Daniel L. Doctoroff, who was managing director of a successful private equity firm. Doctoroff was inspired to bring the Olympic Games to New York after witnessing New York's passionate international sports fans at a 1994 FIFA World Cup match in Giants Stadium. Single-handedly, he built a team to help him craft a plan for staging the Games and a strategy to help New York win its bid. Seven years after he founded the bid, Doctoroff resigned as President of NYC2012 to join the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He continued to lead New York's Olympic Bid as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding.

Doctoroff viewed a New York Olympics as an opportunity to get major projects done in New York that had long been stalled by political inertia. Two of the biggest projects were the revival of the East River waterfront, including the construction of an Olympic Village across the river from the United Nations and an aquatics center in Brooklyn, and the construction of West Side Stadium, which was supposed to have led to the comprehensive redevelopment of the Far West Side of Manhattan. Other projects that were part of the bid included a rowing course in Queens, a velodrome in the South Bronx, a marina along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, an equestrian center in Staten Island, and the refurbishment of a historic armory in Harlem.

Their bid may have been hampered by the fact that the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver and organizers are believed to be eager to avoid having consecutive Olympics on the same continent. However Barcelona (1992), Lillehammer (1994), Athens (2004) and Turin (2006) have held the Olympics consecutively on the same continent. Additionally, the Olympics have been held in the United States as recently as 2002 (Winter Olympics), 1996, 1984, and 1980 (Winter Olympics), making the US the first country to hold four games within a 25-year period. However, of the five candidates, only New York and Madrid have never hosted the Games before.

The West Side Stadium

An Olympic Stadium on the West Side of Manhattan had been part of NYC2012's plan since 2000, when the organization's blueprint for the Games was formally unveiled to the public. Host to Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Athletics competitions, the West Side Stadium would have sat adjacent to the Jacob Javits Convention Center, host to six Olympic sports, Olympic Square Park, and a new 40+ story office tower that would have housed Olympic broadcasters in 2012.

The Stadium's construction was scheduled to proceed regardless of whether New York was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. The project was to be paid for by the New York Jets ($800 million), New York City ($300 million for infrastructure), and New York State ($300 million for the retractable roof). According to the project's promoters, the building's retractable roof, unnecessary for football, would make the stadium a flexible, multi-purpose facility. It would provide a long-term boost to New York's economy and would jump-start the development of Manhattan's Far West Side.

Local civic groups concerned with congestion and a changing neighborhood had long opposed its construction, and it historically had low city-wide approval ratings. The project managed to stay largely out of the media and public spotlight until early 2004 when Cablevision released its first round of advertising against the Stadium. As the owner of Madison Square Garden, which is located just a few blocks from the site of the proposed Olympic Stadium, Cablevision saw the new facility as a potential threat to the Garden's share of concert, convention, and other major event business.

The Mayor's political opponents, notably the contenders for the Democratic mayoral nomination, used the Stadium issue as a symbol that Mayor Bloomberg was a billionaire who was out of touch with the needs of average New Yorkers. Cablevision spent over $30 million on negative advertising and political lobbying and even generated a competing proposal for development of the Stadium site.

However, the Stadium was strongly supported by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who insisted that there was no alternate site for the Olympic Stadium and the project needed to be approved before the International Olympic Committee selected the Host City on July 6, 2005.

Finally, on June 6, 2005, an obscure State government board, the Public Authorities Control Board, rejected New York State's $300 million contribution for the project, eliminating the possibility that an Olympic Stadium on that site would be fully approved before the IOC's vote.

The City, working with NYC2012, quickly developed a backup plan. The new plan called for a new Mets ballpark in Queens in the parking lot of Shea Stadium, later conceived to be Citi Field, to be completed for the 2009 baseball season; it was announced on June 12, 2005. The plan would be to use the stadium for the 2012 Olympics while the Mets would play at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx for the 2012 season.

International Olympic Committee evaluation report

Of the nine international cities submitting bids, NYC2012 made the shortlist of five on May 18, 2004 with an overall fourth-place score of 7.5/10, although it scored first in the "Accommodation" category, sharing a 10 with Paris and London.

One of the largest concerns voiced by the IOC was regarding travel. The following is an excerpt from their evaluation:

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050729025843/http://www.nyc2012.com/ Last official site of NYC 2012 from Web Archive]
* [http://www.trollback.com/?projects=42 NYC 2012 logo-unveiling film designed and produced by Trollback + Company]