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Originally Posted by The North One
You'd think with the insane power and influence this city has on the world, they would have had the Olympics at some point at least once.
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The biggest problem New York has to organizing and hosting the games is overwhelming NIMBYism. Hosting the Olympics usually requires a large amount of new construction, something people in the city are all too ready to fight. The last Olympic bid was thrown into chaos when the location of the stadium was being bounced around. But there was NIMBYism in even some of the smaller venues. And then there were the complaints about the crowds (like the city has never seen those).
If New York were to develop a bid, it would have to be a serious one. It can't be shifted on the whims of NIMBYism and general complaints, because those are going to happen no matter what. Once you get beyond that, then you can focus on the financial issues involved.
But here's an example of some of that "we don't need the Olympics" attitude...
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/bo...icle-1.1793616
The International Olympic Committee already spurned New York City once, let’s not give them a second chance
New York City is already a great city, some say the greatest on the planet, and doesn't need approval of its standing from a bunch of crooked, smug IOC members.
And it doesn't need the post-Olympic headaches that cities like Atlanta and Beijing have dealt with.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
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The bad news around here is that special-interest commercial developers are trying to push through another New York bid to host the Summer Olympics. The good news is that Mayor de Blasio is likely too smart and practical to get involved in such a mire.
Anybody who was in Singapore back in 2005, when the International Olympic Committee spurned New York as a potential host city, can tell you that this is a long process that our municipality never wants to get involved with again. After jumping through hoops and trying in vain to jam through an ill-advised new stadium for the West Side, NYC 2012 organizers were quickly snubbed by politicized (and monetized) IOC members in early-round voting.
Asked then what New York might have done to win an Olympic bid, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the retired IOC president, turned around at the top of an escalator bank, smiled, and arrogantly said, "Bid again."
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http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf..._olympics.html
Politi: New York shouldn't waste its time, and money, bidding for Olympics
By Steve Politi/Star-Ledger Columnist
May 15, 2014
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The key words here are "looking at it" and "very preliminary," because they indicate the people who will make this decision can come to their senses before wasting too much time, energy and — most of all — money.
Because that, ultimately, is what will happen if New York decides to pursue a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Again.
It is unbelievable but true: Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed a report out of London that the state was considering a bid, less than a decade after the IOC pretty much laughed a New York bid out of the room.
"We are looking at it," Cuomo told reporters in Albany Wednesday, and you know that "we" will eventually cover this side of the Hudson River, too, just like it did in 2005, when New York bid the last time.
We all know how that turned out. New York spent millions on the marketing and planning for the three-week event, building some of the infrastructure needed to make it happen, and the effort finished fourth. London got the Olympics in a narrow vote over Paris. New York didn’t even get onto the medal stand.
Why try again? Then again, given the overwhelming costs, security concerns and other general headaches, why would any U.S. city go groveling to the IOC?
It is a question the U.S. Olympic Committee must consider. Certainly, there is a prestige that comes from hosting the Olympics, and showcasing an American city to the world has its benefits. The U.S. has hosted eight times, including four times from 1980 to 2002 alone, and most times the Games were considered a success.
Still, the times have changed. It cost a whopping $51 billion for Sochi to host the Olympics this past winter, and many people will remember the Games for faulty door knobs and broken showers — aka, the #SochiProblems. Some investment.
Given the security concerns in that region, Sochi was essentially turned into a police state for the winter. New York doesn’t have that regional instability, but it already has been a terrorism target. Imagine trying to secure an Olympics that would cover the five boroughs and New Jersey against threats.
Then, there would be the new facilities and needed infrastructure improvements. The IOC favors flashy new construction over existing venues, adding to the costs. It might be one thing for a country like China, desperate to show itself as a world power, to invest those billions in facilities that might quickly become vacant and useless.
The U.S. doesn’t need that. New York certainly doesn’t need that. It already is the best city in the world — just ask anyone walking the streets — and hosting the table-tennis and judo competition isn’t going to add to that.
"We are evaluating now whether we want to bid for 2024 (Summer Games)," Scott Blackmun, the CEO of USOC, said from Sochi. "We’re talking to a handful of cities, and if we determine that a 2024 bid is not in the interest of the Olympic movement in the U.S., then we will shift our analysis to whether or not the 2026 (Winter Games) makes sense."
The USOC has reason to exercise caution. It was stunned when an excellent bid from Chicago to host the 2016 Games finished fourth out of the four finalists. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was the choice, and the IOC is already griping about the slow progress on the facilities.
This is nothing new, of course. As Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel wrote, "when the IOC doesn’t think it’s being treated properly, it goes vengeful and runs to the media. It ought to date Donald Sterling."
Still, the Associated Press reported that four U.S. cities — Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Dallas — are considering a bid. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio isn’t thrilled with the idea of making the massive investment in a bid, which is one reason for New Yorkers fearing the midtown gridlock to relax. The bidding would begin next year with the winner announced in 2017.
Let Boston or San Fran have the headaches. Cuomo might be "looking at it" and having "very preliminary" discussions, but New York should tell the IOC to take its five-ring circus someplace else.
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London doesn't need the publicity or exposure either, but look at all of the benefits of the 2012 Olympics. No city is above the positive impact that it brings.
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