| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Games of the XXX Olympiad XIV Paralympic Games | |
 | |
| Winner:London Runner-up:Paris Shortlist:Madrid ·Moscow ·New York City | |
| Details | |
| City | New York City,USA |
| NOC | U.S. Olympic Committee |
| Evaluation | |
| IOC score | 7.5 |
| Previous Games hosted | |
| None | |
| Decision | |
| Result | Eliminated in the 2nd round of voting |
| Scored fourth at 7.5, although it scored first in the "Accommodation" category, sharing a 10 withParis andLondon. | |
TheNew York City 2012 Olympic bid was one of thefive short-listed bids for the2012 Summer Olympics, ultimately won byLondon.
New York City's Olympic bid was managed by a private non-profit organization,NYC 2012, founded byDaniel L. Doctoroff, then the managing director ofOak Hill Capital Partners, aprivate equity firm.[1] Doctoroff thought of bringing the Olympic Games to New York after witnessing New York's international sports fans at a1994 FIFA World Cup match inGiants Stadium. He then built a team to help craft a plan for staging the Games. Seven years later, Doctoroff resigned as President of NYC2012 to join the administration of MayorMichael Bloomberg, but he continued to lead New York's Olympic Bid as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding.
Two of the biggest projects proposed as part of the bid were the revival of theEast River waterfront, including the construction of an Olympic Village across the river from theUnited Nations Headquarters and an aquatics center in Brooklyn, and the construction ofWest Side Stadium, which was supposed to have led to the comprehensive redevelopment of the Far West Side of Manhattan. Other projects that were part of the bid included a rowing course in Queens, avelodrome in the South Bronx, a marina along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, an equestrian center on Staten Island, and the refurbishment of the historic369th Regiment Armory inHarlem.
While New York City had never hosted the Olympic Games before, the city launched a short-lived campaign in 1977 to bid for the1984 Summer Olympics. In this plan, the main venue for the Games would have beenShea Stadium, but there were doubts as to whether theNew York Mets would actually be willing to temporarily vacate their stadium during the regular season for the event. TheU.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), responsible for choosing no more than one American city to bid for each edition of the Olympics, voted 55–39 to give that opportunity to Los Angeles,[2] which was successfully awarded the Games by theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) the following year.
Daniel Doctoroff, an investment banker, was inspired to start a new campaign for New York City to host the Olympic Games after attending a1994 FIFA World Cup match atGiants Stadium.[3] Doctoroff gained the support of MayorRudy Giuliani and influential business leaders. Giuliani announced plans to bid for the2008 Summer Olympics in June 1996, days after theOlympic torch passed through the city on its way tothe Atlanta Games.[4]
On May 15, 1997, the USOC announced it would not pursue a bid for 2008, believing that more time was needed to put together a bid that could match the strong competition put up by other countries. All applicant cities were encouraged to apply for the 2012 Summer Olympics or for the2007 Pan American Games instead.[5] Beginning the process of choosing a candidate city in 1997 meant that the USOC would have eight years to prepare for the IOC's host city selection vote in 2005. The USOC set a deadline of October 20, 1997, for all cities interested in a 2012 bid to submit an application. New York was one of 10 cities to apply, sending a non-refundable deposit of $150,000 to the USOC.[6]
Candidate cities were given four years to refine their proposals before the USOC began eliminating cities from contention. The NYC2012 committee prepared a 700-page formal bid, which was submitted to the USOC in May 2001. A site selection committee from the USOC visited New York from July 31 to August 2, 2001, to evaluate the city's facilities.[7] TheSeptember 11 attacks destroyed theWorld Trade Center in lower Manhattan during the selection process.[8]
New York was one of four citiesshortlisted by the USOC on October 26, 2001, alongsideHouston,San Francisco, andWashington, D.C.[9] Following a second round of city visits, New York and San Francisco were chosen as finalists on August 27, 2002.[10] The two remaining candidates were referred to the USOC board of directors, which held the final vote to choose its nominee at USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs on November 2. New York received 59 percent of the available votes over San Francisco, making it the U.S. candidate city for the 2012 Olympics.[11]
Olympic venues would have been spread around the city, had it been selected for the Olympics.[12]
The Village would have been located on theEast River Waterfront of Queens across from theUnited Nations Headquarters. During the Olympics and Paralympics, it would have housed more than 16,000 athletes and coaches. Costing an estimate of $1.5 billion, the Village would include plazas and shops, restaurants, acres of green landscape, training centers and fields, a private dining hall, religious centers, and ferry and train service. Post-Olympic plans would provide world-class residential housing for up to 18,000 New York residents. The area would have been designed by Morphosis Architects as the heart and crossroad of New York's Olympic X Plan.
Brooklyn
Staten Island
Long Island
New Jersey
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An Olympic Stadium on the West Side of Manhattan had been part of NYC2012's plan since 2000, when the organization's blueprint for the Games was formally unveiled to the public. Host to Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Athletics competitions, theWest Side Stadium would have sat adjacent to the Jacob Javits Convention Center, host to six Olympic sports, Olympic Square Park, and a new 40+ story office tower that would have housed Olympic broadcasters in 2012.
The Stadium's construction was scheduled to proceed regardless of whether New York was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. The project was to be paid for by theNew York Jets ($800 million), New York City ($300 million for infrastructure), and New York State ($300 million for the retractable roof). According to the project's promoters, the building's retractable roof, unnecessary for football, would make the stadium a flexible, multi-purpose facility. It would provide a long-term boost to New York's economy and would jump-start the development of Manhattan's Far West Side.
Local civic groups concerned with congestion and a changing neighborhood had long opposed its construction, and it historically had low citywide approval ratings. The project managed to stay largely out of the media and public spotlight until early 2004 whenCablevision released its first round of advertising against the Stadium. As the owner of Madison Square Garden, which is located just a few blocks from the site of the proposed Olympic Stadium, Cablevision saw the new facility as a potential threat to the Garden's share of concert, convention, and other major event business.[13]
Political opponents of New York mayorMichael Bloomberg, notably the contenders for the Democratic mayoral nomination, used the Stadium issue as a symbol that he was a billionaire who was out of touch with the needs of average New Yorkers. Cablevision spent over $30 million on negative advertising and political lobbying and even generated a competing proposal for development of the Stadium site. However, the Stadium was strongly supported by Bloomberg, who insisted that there was no alternate site for the Olympic Stadium and the project needed to be approved before the International Olympic Committee selected the Host City on July 6, 2005. Finally, on June 6, 2005, the Public Authorities Control Board rejected New York State's $300 million contribution for the project, eliminating the possibility that an Olympic Stadium on that site would be fully approved before the IOC's vote.
The City, working with NYC2012, quickly developed a backup plan, which called for a new ballpark for theNew York Mets inQueens in the parking lot ofShea Stadium – later namedCiti Field – to be completed for the 2009 baseball season; it was announced on June 12, 2005. The plan would've been to use the stadium for the2012 Olympics while the Mets would play atYankee Stadium inthe Bronx for that year's baseball season.[1]
Despite the bid's failure the greatest legacy of the NYC2012 bid has been large-scale development of areas ofNew York City that underwentrezoning in order to move forward with the NYC2012 bid.Manhattan'sHudson Yards andBrooklyn's waterfront inWilliamsburg andGreenpoint both underwent rezoning revisions which were in part due to the region's planned roles as Olympic venues, including the controversial West Side Stadium.[14][15] (The7 Subway Extension, which was originally planned for the 2012 Olympic bid, was revised to serve the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.) The development of the once industrial Queens West neighborhood on theEast River may also have origins in the bid, as it was initially slated for development as the planned site of the Olympic Village. Following the Games, the site was to be bought by private developers and converted into condominiums.[16]
Upon theUSOC reaching a new revenue sharing agreement with theIOC in May 2012, New York had been mentioned as a potential candidate for the2024 Summer Olympics, but then-MayorBill de Blasio decided not to pursue a bid in May 2014.[17][18]Los Angeles became the US candidate following the withdrawal ofBoston's bid. Los Angeles later secured the right to host the2028 Summer Olympics whileParis (which competed with New York in the 2012 race) secured the2024 Summer Olympics.
After the Olympic bid failed, the construction ofCiti Field in Queens, now designated as the new home of theNew York Mets, went on as scheduled; the Mets played their first game in the stadium in April 2009.
Adjacent to Citi Field, a new25,000 seat soccer-specific stadium forNew York City FC ofMajor League Soccer will be built inWillets Point and the surrounding area will be redeveloped. The new stadium will open in 2027.
Despite the bid's failure, construction of an aquatics center atFlushing Meadow Park went ahead. TheFlushing Meadows Natatorium opened in 2008.
After the West Side Stadium proposal was rejected, the NFL'sNew York Jets entered into a 50/50 partnership with theNew York Giants to build a new stadium inEast Rutherford, New Jersey to replaceGiants Stadium. The New Meadowlands Stadium (nowMetLife Stadium) opened in 2010 and hostedSuper Bowl XLVIII in 2014. It will host eight matches during the2026 FIFA World Cup including thefinal.[19]
The opening of theBarclays Center (which was the proposed venue for gymnastics) ushered in the return of professional sports franchises toBrooklyn for the first time since theBrooklyn Dodgers left in 1957. The Barclays Center is the home of the NBA'sBrooklyn Nets and the WNBA'sNew York Liberty and used to be a part-time home of the NHL'sNew York Islanders.
Despite the failure to approve theWest Side Stadium, the site of the West Side Rail Yards still saw development. TheHudson Yards Redevelopment Project saw the construction of multiple buildings and mixed-use developments which has led to the creation ofa new neighborhood. The new buildings feature office space and residential space. A shopping mall has also been opened.
Renovations were made to theJavits Center (which would have hosted multiple Olympic events) and the7 Train was extended to its current terminal at34th Street. TheHigh Line originates at the Hudson Yards and is an elevated urban park built on former train tracks.
Wynn Resorts had proposed to build an 80 story resort and casino with 1,750 rooms at the Hudson Yards. It would have been constructed on the site of where the West Side Stadium would have been built, but Wynn withdrew their proposal in May 2025.[20][21]
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