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...though not necessarily together. The International Olympic Committee has granted the NYC 2012 bid permission to alter and amend its proposal, given the extraordinary circumstances of, um, submitting a plan that won't have its cornerstone - the West Side Stadium. Even for NYC 2012 big organizers, it's unclear what the other options for a stadium would be (Shea Stadium? Something else in Queens?), which makes any scrambling sound like a last gasp effort to make good of millions and millions of dollars devoted to this effort. The NYC 2012 are even reportedly in talks with the USOC about the possibility of withdrawing if a new stadium solution can't be reached.
At the same time, the MTA is thinking about what it's going to do with its pricey parcel of land, if the Jets can't figure out a way to finance the stadium. At this point, the Jets are talking to the Giants about staying in NJ, in a new facility at the Meadowlands, but they are also considering NYC options. The MTA is still willing to sell the land to the Jets - if they want it - but will consider other development offers if that falls through, just not the last round of other bids, including Cablevision's. So expect some construction on the West Side!
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I don't understand why NYC doesn't do what Atlanta did: build an Olympic stadium next to an old baseball stadium and then when the Olympics are over, convert the new stadium for use as a baseball stadium. Atlanta got rid of Fulton County Stadium and turned their Olympic stadium into Turner Field, where the Braves play. Why couldn't NYC do something similar in Queens with the cooperation of the Mets?
I think the great Sean Connery put it best:
Let it go, Indiana.
tim is right, but unfortunately the usoc put their eggs in nyc2012's basket. queens, my home borough, won't work - period. the jets won't play there because nobody will travel there, the olympics won't go there either. albany once again has fucked nyc. time to re-open the seccession talks, and to re-institute the commuter tax.
J, overall, do People want a New Stadium or the Olympics in NY? I know I don't but was it actually put to an Honest Poll?
It bould be that Albany just listened to it Constituents.
"It bould be"?
...
How did That get by my spell checker??
S.D., you make a good point. I don't know anyone who was psyched about the stadium or the Olympics. It seemed like everyone was uniformly horrified at the prospect of a football stadium in Manhattan.
I don't see what the big deal is about putting in Queens, where there is room. I'm from Queens too it's not that hard to get out there. I'm reminded of that scene in Men in Black when one of them observes that the WOrld's Fair structure was actually spaceships, why else would they have done it in Queens?
J,
In Paris the olympic village is near the city limits and the Stade de France is well outside the city limits (like Giants Stadium). In London both the stadium and village are in Zone 3; this in a city where the lack of a flat fare just encourages downtown-centric chauvinism.
Queens, your home borough, would work. The Jets should play there because if you build it they will come. The olympics would have more incentive to go there because Willets Point is generously within the city limit and it only costs a flat fare to get there.
As for secession and reinstating the commuter tax...I couldn't agree more.
Yep, IMO, "polls" tend to have loaded questions, I.e. "Don't you want the honor of hosting the Olympics?" or "Should the state do What ever it takes to get the Olympics?" or, on the Other End, "Do you support Corporate Welfare?"
You know, I suppose I'd be cool with a Stadium if it had certain Guarantees Like (Might be overkill):
*Whatever team goes there gets locked in a 30 year Contract to STAY in NYC.
*They buy the Land and OWN the stadium.
*They Build it with their Money and get less than 100% Tax break (Not that the Yankees pay 100% of their rent...)
*They control the booking Schedule.
"They" being whomever steps up to the plate.
As previously Mentioned, if this is would be such a Money maker, why doesn't private groups build it? Can't Raise a Billion Dollars?
I don't buy the "no one will go to Queens" for football argument.
First of all, plenty of people go to Queens for the US Open, and many of those people live is such far-off exotic places as Manhattan and New Jersey.
Secondly, the Mets, while not regularly selling out their games, seem to have done alright for themselves in I believe over 40 years in Queens. (How many Manhattanites ever go to the Bronx for anything other than Yankees games?)
Thirdly, there are plenty of hungry football fans on Long Island with easy access to the area around Shea stadium.
The real issue here is not whether or not people will go to Queens for sports, because they will, but why the city and state govt. is pushing for a West Side stadium that no one wants. People like Queens, but corporate cronies do not.
All together now: "Cause he's got hiiiggghh hopes, he's got hiiiiggghh hopes, he's got high APPLE pie in the sky hopes!"