Jacques Rogge, IOC President

International Olympic Committee
Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 621 61 11
Fax: +41 21 621 62 16
Internet: www.olympics.org


FRONT PAGE
SiteSearch
About us


2012 Olympics: East London
London Olympics: Legacy
Impact of 2012 Olympics
How London won the 2012 Olympics
2012 Olympics: The popular vote
2010 Winter Olympics


City Mayors reports news from towns and cities around the world. Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa | Events |


Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa are competing for the annual World Mayor Award. More


City Mayors ranks the world’s largest as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More


City Mayors reports political events, analyses the issues and depicts the main players. More


City Mayors describes and explains the structures and workings of local government in Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa. More


City Mayors profiles city leaders from around the world and questions them about their achievements, policies and aims. More


City Mayors deals with economic and investment issues affecting towns and cities. More


City Mayors reports on how business developments impact on cities and examines cooperation between cities and the private sector. More


City Mayors describes and explains financial issues affecting local government. More


City Mayors lists and features urban events, conferences and conventions aimed at urban decision makers and those with an interst in cities worldwide. More


City Mayors reports urban environmental developments and examines the challenges faced by cities worldwide. More


City Mayors reports on and discusses urban development issues in developed and developing countries. More


City Mayors reports on developments in urban society and behaviour and reviews relevant research. More


City Mayors deals with urban transport issues in developed and developing countries and features the world’s greatest metro systems. More


City Mayors examines education issues and policies affecting children and adults in urban areas. More


City Mayors investigates health issues affecting urban areas with an emphasis on health in cities in developing countries. More


City Mayors examines the importance of urban tourism to city economies. More


City Mayors examines the contributions history and culture make to urban society and environment. More


City Mayors describes the history, architecture and politics of the greatest city halls in the world. More


City Mayors invites readers to write short stories about people in cities around the world. More


City Mayors questions those who govern the world’s cities and talks to men and women who contribute to urban society and environment. More


City Mayors profiles national and international organisations representing cities as well as those dealing with urban issues. More


City Mayors reports on major national and international sporting events and their impact on cities. More


City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More

This archived article was published 27 February 2005
Controversy over planned stadium
dominated IOC inspection of NYC

By Barbara Schoetzau, VoA

Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wrapped up their four-day visit evaluating New York's bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics on 25 February 2005. The committee found itself in the middle of the most polarizing issue in the city at the moment, a proposal to build an Olympic-size stadium on Manhattan's West Side.

How London the 2012 Olympics

The 13 IOC delegates spent four days touring venues around the five counties that make up New York City. They looked at venues for gymnastics and an aquatic center in Brooklyn, soccer and volleyball at a sports complex across the Hudson River in New Jersey and cycling, softball and equestrienne venues on Staten Island. They were hosted by officials eager to win the nod for the Games and entertained by New York performing artists.

Security and financing concerns also were on the agenda of the IOC committee. Security costs for last year's Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, soared past the one billion dollar mark. New York State Governor George Pataki said the delegates had a lot of questions about security.

"Will this be designated a national security event, and we are confident that it will, do the state and the city have the authority to go forward with the financial guarantees and other steps that have already been taken? And the answer to that is that we do and we will," he said.

President Bush sent a videotaped message to the delegates assuring them that the federal government would help defray security costs.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city has an edge over some competitors because he was able to tell the delegates that New York would be able to avoid costly labor cost overruns for new building projects for the Olympics. "They also talked about making sure that government, the private sector and unions worked together. We discussed the no-strike pledge, which is a unique document, ten-year pledge from the construction industries," he said.

The head of the U.S. Olympic Host Committee, Peter Ueberroth, said the New York effort impressed the committee. "New York is energized by this entire effort. It has come together, the people of New York," he said. "The commission as they evaluate this they can feel the citizenry. They can feel the acceptance. Totally unified."

But public opinion polls show that one-third of New Yorkers do not support the city's Olympic bid. And two-thirds oppose plans to build an Olympic stadium at an abandoned railroad yard in Manhattan. The Jets football team was planning to buy the site to build a stadium, which could be used in 2012 for Olympic events. But several other business groups have now offered more money for the site and increasingly active community groups say the stadium would create too much traffic.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that Mayor Bloomberg, who has spearheaded both the Olympic effort and the stadium, is up for re-election in November. His potential rivals have seized on the stadium proposal as a major way to unseat the mayor.

In his state of the city address, during the Olympic Committee's visit, City Council President Gifford Miller proposed to rezone the site for housing and said he will introduce legislation requiring the mayor to get approval for the 300-million dollars he wants the city to spend on the stadium.

"When stadiums become a more important priority than schools, then the mayor is making the wrong choice," he said. "The bottom line is that I have fought and I will keep on fighting against the stadium so that my children and your children will not end up paying for this terrible mistake. Because this stadium won't help our city."

During the visit, IOC delegates also met with a local Brooklyn group that opposes some of the venues proposed for Brooklyn, including plans to build a basketball arena.

New York is one of five finalists for the 2012 Games. The IOC evaluation team has already visited London and Madrid and will visit Moscow and Paris. The winning city will be announced 6 July 2005.
World Mayor 2023