It’s a pitch–made by a high-octane group of New Yorkers trying to bring home the 2012 Summer Olympics–that’s gained new urgency since September 11. Their effort, begun in 1998, cleared an important hurdle a few weeks ago when New York made the short list of American cities–Houston, San Francisco and Washington are the others–from which the U.S. Olympic Committee will choose a single winner next November. The U.S. entry will then compete against other countries for the 2012 Games. The host city will be picked in 2005.
Post-September 11, the organizers deftly melded the attack into their presentation. The cover of NYC2012’s glossy brochure originally featured the Twin Towers; the group decided to keep the image but altered it to show the towers draped in a red, white and blue ribbon. The World Trade Center was the “Ellis Island for international business,’’ says Dan Doctoroff, the money manager behind the NYC2012 effort. The group’s board includes Mike Bloomberg (he’ll step down when he becomes mayor), Billy Crystal and Martha Stewart. Doctoroff’s pitch is filled with polished lines. With its vast immigrant population, “New York is the world’s second home,’’ he says. “The city is an Olympic Village every day.''
NYC2012’s 600-page “bid book’’ shows that the organization has done its homework, devising a plan to quiet most critics’ protests. Traffic foul-ups? No problem. Athletes, housed in an Olympic Village to be built on the East River, would ride high-speed ferries to more than a dozen waterfront venues or ride trains to events in New Jersey, Manhattan and Queens. Who’s going to pay for all this? Not taxpayers, says Doctoroff. Television rights, sponsorships and ticket sales should bring in about $3.4 billion of revenue. The Games will cost about $2.2 billion to operate, leaving $1.2 billion for capital investments in stadiums and other facilities (the budget includes a $362 million contingency, some of which will no doubt be earmarked for beefier security).
The organizers have even included a plan for New York’s West Side that could proceed regardless of whether New York gets the Games. Several sprawling blocks are now occupied by a train yard, which the group suggests capping with a huge platform, over which developers could construct office buildings and hotels, a park and an extension of the undersize Jacob Javits Convention Center that could double as a new stadium for the Olympics and the NFL Jets. They went back to the future for this big idea–much the same was done at the turn of the 20th century to the rail yards just north of Grand Central Terminal to create what is now Park Avenue. Projected new tax revenues from the development would finance the construction.
It’s too early to guess New York’s chances. Olympics officials may feel that the United States has had more than its fair share of Games in the last couple of decades (Lake Placid, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Salt Lake City next year). On the other hand, a U.S. host city would help lift TV ratings for the Games (live, prime-time events garner more interest than awkward tape-delay broadcasts from afar). Passing New York the Olympics baton would also help rejuvenate entire sections of New York, as well as the city’s spirits.
