NEW YORK CITY – NYC2012, the committee leading New York’s bid to be the U.S. Candidate City for the Olympic Games in 2012, today released the highlights of the 600-page bid book it has submitted to the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs for Friday’s deadline.
“Our bid represents an extraordinary amount of work by hundreds of New Yorkers — NYC2012 staff and board members, government officials, Olympians, architects, planners and other experts and consultants — who are committed to bringing the Olympic Games to New York. We are particularly grateful for the tremendous support we have received from Governor Pataki, Mayor Giuliani, City Council Speaker Vallone and the many other government officials whose work made this bid possible,” said NYC2012 President Daniel L. Doctoroff. “We’re confident that we are submitting an extremely strong bid.”
The bid book includes, as required by the USOC, detailed plans for virtually every aspect of the Olympic Games, including sports venues,
transportation, security, media, technology, accommodations,
environmental protection, health care, culture, finance, and marketing.
Each of the 31 National Governing Bodies (NGBs) which oversee summer
Olympic sports has approved New York’s plan for the venue in which its
competitions would be held, as well as the proposed competition
schedule.
“We are pleased by the enormously broad support this bid is generating
from all segments of the New York community, and we are particularly
thrilled that 427 Olympians from our region have joined the NYC2012
Circle of Olympians. They will play a pivotal role in all of our
initiatives going forward. New York Olympians provided invaluable
insight and guidance as we developed the plans for our sports venues,”
said Doctoroff.
“The covers of our bid book feature athletes performing Olympic feats in quintessential New York scenes: swimming in the bay in front of the World Trade Center, field hockey in Times Square, fencing in front of the Guggenheim and soccer at the Unisphere. Our overriding theme is New York as the World’s Second Home,” said Doctoroff. “With virtually every Olympic nation having its own community in New York, athletes from every nation in the world will find cheering sections of their own in New York,” added Doctoroff. “Today, children from no fewer than 186 of the 199 nations represented in the 2000 Olympic Games attend the city’s schools,” he noted.
“Developing an athlete-friendly Olympic Games is key to every part of
this proposal. Our compact ‘Olympic X’ facilities plan using high-speed ferries and special trains will provide Olympians with an unprecedented transportation system to their competition venues that is safe, fast and convenient, and avoids the need for bus travel on the City’s streets and roads,” said Doctoroff.
At the center of the “X,” both symbolically and actually, is the Olympic Village at Queens West. The NYC2012 proposal for this spectacular site – across the East River from the United Nations – is consistent with the plan approved by the City and State, and would produce 4,400 desperately needed housing units for private occupancy after the Games.
Budget and Economic Impact:
NYC2012 projects “Olympic” revenues primarily from three sources –
television rights, ticket sales, and sponsorships and licensing –
totaling $3.322 billion in 2012 dollars. With $2.032 billion in
projected costs to operate the Games, NYC2012 would have $1.290 billion available for capital investment in the new and renovated facilities
included in the plan. The proposal contemplates that the Games can be
fully financed from Olympic revenues.
The overall local economic impact of a 2012 Olympic Games held in New
York is projected to be in excess of $11 billion (in 2012 dollars). In
terms of employment throughout the region, more than 135,000 “job years” are projected to be generated by the Games.
Plan’s Legacies for New Yorkers:
“A New York City Olympic Games will create a lasting legacy for the
people of New York. The legacy includes more than a billion dollars
worth of new and renovated sports facilities and parks in all five
boroughs, which we believe will be the greatest amount of money ever
spent on recreational facilities in New York City,” Doctoroff said.
“By locating the Olympic Village and many venues along the East River,
our plan will help to stimulate the revival of one of New York City’s
greatest assets – the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront,” said Doctoroff.
“We hope that these new waterfront projects, connected by a high-speed
ferry system, will spur the revitalization of the long-neglected East
River waterfront as a major legacy of an Olympic Games in New York,” he said.
“Another legacy would be the revitalization of the Midtown West area of Manhattan,” Doctoroff said. “NYC2012 has proposed the creation of an eight-and-a-half-acre Olympic Square on top of the Long Island Rail Road yards as part of a comprehensive plan for the area. The Midtown West
plan includes a new NFL Stadium that would be converted into the Olympic Stadium for 2012, an expanded Javits Center, new hotels, a new mass transit hub linking the No. 7 subway line with the LIRR and Metro-North, and a waterfront promenade overlooking the new Hudson River Park. This
would give New York an exciting new district for sports, entertainment
and tourism, not to mention new residential and commercial space.”
“We are also committed to a bold program to strengthen youth sports,
including school sports and elite training programs in Olympic sports
for young New Yorkers,” said Doctoroff.
Background on USOC Bid Process:
“We are extremely proud of this plan, and look forward to the next phase of the USOC bid process,” Doctoroff said.
New York is one of eight cities authorized by the USOC to bid for the
U.S. Candidate City designation. (The other seven are Cincinnati,
Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tampa, and
Washington/Baltimore.)
Over the next three months, the USOC is expected to conduct a detailed
review of each bid book and request revisions. The USOC Site Evaluation Committee will visit each of the eight bid cities during Summer 2001. The USOC’s Board of Directors will select the U.S. Candidate City in Fall 2002; that city will then compete against cities from other
countries to be designated as the Host City for the 2012 Olympic Games.
That selection will be made by the International Olympic Committee in
Fall 2005.
Additional information is available on NYC2012’s Web site:
http://www.nyc2012.com
