September 13, 2004
Bloomberg: No stadium, no Olympics
I've previously described New York's multi-billion-dollar Hudson Yards plan as "all cart and no horse," and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg made another stab at muddying the waters of causality in statements at yesterday's Jets game. Though the city has certified an official backup plan (Shea Stadium), Bloomberg nonetheless insisted yesterday that the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics will be withdrawn if the Jets' $1.4 billion Manhattan stadium is not approved. "If we were to not get the stadium going very soon we would have to drop out of the competition for the Olympics," Bloomberg said of the project, which is currently stalled in the state legislature. "I have to be able to look the IOC in the eye and say this stadium is going to be built."
Notes Brian Hatch of NewYorkGames.org, who has long advocated hosting the Olympics in Queens: "They are extorting New Yorkers by demanding they give them what they really want - a West Side real estate deal - in exchange for the popular Olympics." (Though not so popular among New York Post readers, apparently.)
Bloomberg, meanwhile, was roundly booed at yesterday's game by Jets fans fearful they would no longer be able to tailgate at a Manhattan stadium. (The Hudson Yards stadium plan does not include a parking lot.) "You can have tailgating in New York," insisted the mayor. "We know how to eat outside." Just watch out for the guys with the orange nets.
