GaryMrMets
06-29-2005, 01:14 PM
FACTBOX-New York's 2012 Olympic bid
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games:
CITY
Biggest city in the United States
Population: 8.1 million within municipal boundaries, 22 million in greater metropolitan area.
Average temperature over proposed Games period (July 27 to August 12): 28 degrees Celsius during past 30 years
Games bid leader: Dan Doctoroff (New York deputy mayor)
CONCEPT
New York's bid was conceived by Doctoroff on July 13 1994 during an Italy v Bulgaria World Cup soccer game at Giants Stadium.
The Games would lead to more than 800 acres of new or enhanced parkland. They would also help the city to develop deteriorated waterfront, and clean up two severely polluted lakes, and one of the largest garbage dumps in the world, Fresh Kills in Staten Island.
VENUES
New York would use many of its landmarks: road cycling in Staten Island would have the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, the marathon would pass through Times Square, along Broadway and over Brooklyn Bridge and the triathlon would be held in Central Park. The Olympic Village would be across the East River from the United Nations, basketball would be held in Madison Square Garden and baseball at the Yankee Stadium.
A plan to build a new, $2-billion West Side Olympic stadium in Manhattan was scuppered by state legislators earlier this month and organisers scrambled to arrange a replacement the day before an IOC deadline, doing a deal with baseball's Mets to use the new 80,000-capacity stadium they are building in the borough of Queens.
FINANCE
Budget of $3.1 billion. Officials project Games would bring regional economic impact of more than $12 billion and create more than 120,000 jobs.
TRANSPORT
Average athlete travel time to competitions projected to be 21 minutes. The three main sports clusters are within 10 kms of the Olympic Village.
PREVIOUS GAMES/BIDS
New York beat Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington D.C. to become the U.S. candidate.
New York City has never hosted the Olympics. New York State staged the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid.
New York has hosted 55 international championships or world cup events during the last four years, including 2003 world championships of freestyle wrestling and archery. It is the permanent home to U.S. Open tennis, track and field's indoor Millrose Games and the New York City Marathon.
Three U.S. cities have staged the summer Games -- St Louis in 1904, Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. Winter Olympics have been held in Squaw Valley (1960) and Salt Lake City (2002), as well as Lake Placid.
SUPPORT
The bid has been endorsed by U.S. President George W. Bush, New York governor George Pataki, New York senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton and mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Organisers have reached their goal of recruiting 60,000 volunteers. Bid officials say polls have shown support for Games at 75 percent, though it has dipped lower. Recent poll showed New York City voters approved by 61-29 percent the plan to build a new stadium for baseball's Mets that would be used for the 2012 Olympics.
Muhammad Ali will join the New York delegation in Singapore for the July 6 IOC vote.
SECURITY
New York Police Department's (NYPD) 36,000-member force boasts advanced counter-terrorism and intelligence programmes, intensified after the September 11 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings that killed 2,749 people. NYPD, who have secured international events from the World Economic Forum to the annual U.N. General Assembly, have developed preliminary security plans for every venue and all Olympic transportation routes.
IOC INTERIM VERDICT
An IOC evaluation commission report earlier this month said New York's bid was high quality, appearing to put it behind Paris and London which were both praised for "very high quality" bids. The commission was concerned about lack of guarantees over the new stadium.
06/28/05 21:09 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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FACTBOX-London's 2012 Olympic bid
LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games:
CITY
Capital of Britain
Population: seven million
Average temperature over proposed Games period (July 27 to August 12): 14 to 21 degrees Celsius
Games bid chairman: Sebastian Coe, former double Olympic athletics champion.
CONCEPT
London's bid is centred on a run-down area in the east of the city, where the Olympic village would be built. Organisers have stressed the importance of "legacy", saying the Olympics would help to rejuvenate one of Europe's most deprived areas.
London is Europe's most cosmopolitan city. More than one-quarter of the inhabitants were born abroad and the city is home to more than 200 ethnic communities who between them speak more than 300 languages.
A city that prides itself on its culture, London has more than 200 museums, 500 cinemas and five symphony orchestras.
Thirty-nine percent of London's total area is made up of parks and green spaces, more than any other comparable city.
VENUES
Five facilities -- the Olympic stadium, the aquatics centre, the velopark, the hockey centre and the indoor arena -- would remain after the Games.
The athletes' village would be converted into 3,600 apartments, many for low-paid workers such as teachers and nurses who struggle to pay London's astronomical property prices.
London would use 31 venues for the Games. These include Lord's Cricket ground (Archery), Wimbledon (Tennis), Horse Guards' Parade (Beach Volleyball), Regent's Park (Softball and Baseball) and a new 80,000-seat Olympic stadium.
The city has pledged to complete all its venues 18 months before the Games start.
FINANCE
London has an operating budget of $2.79 billion. The British government has put in place a public funding package to the tune of $4.41 billion to cover the cost of building new venues, improving transport infrastructure, security and other contingencies.
TRANSPORT
Organisers say 80 percent of athletes would be housed within 20 minutes' travel of their events.
Ten railway lines would serve the Olympic Park. Nine already exist and the 10th, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from Kings Cross station in central London, will be finished by 2007.
The Games would be staged in late July and early August, when the city's traffic demand typically falls by 20 percent. Mayor Ken Livingstone and the government have pledged $30 billion to improve the city's transport infrastructure, long seen as the Achilles' heel of London's bid.
PREVIOUS GAMES/BIDS
This is the first time London has bid for an Olympic Games. It was awarded the Games in 1908, after Rome backed out, and in 1948, after World War Two.
Britain has struggled with its image in world sport after being forced to pull out of staging the 2005 world athletics championships because of problems building a stadium in London. However it went some way to repairing the damage by hosting a successful Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.
SUPPORT
Backers of the bid include Nelson Mandela, England soccer captain David Beckham, Australian Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman and former India cricket captain Kapil Dev.
The IOC evaluation committee report earlier this month said only 68 percent of Londoners supported the city's bid. A poll for the Guardian newspaper in February said 74 percent of Britons backed the bid but only 39 percent thought London would win.
SECURITY
Police chiefs says Britain's unrivalled experience in fighting terrorism combined with its unarmed, unobtrusive police service would make London a safe and welcoming city. They say London's experience in dealing with terrorism, such as the 30-year campaign waged by the Irish Republican Army and more recently the threat from Islamic militants, put London's Metropolitan Police in good stead to cope with the Games.
British police have advised the IOC on security matters since the Los Angeles Games in 1984, the government says.
IOC INTERIM VERDICT
This month's IOC evaluation report said London's bid was of "very high quality". The budget was "well-supported and achievable" and its bid "indicated a high level of planning". There was a cautionary note regarding London's transport system, however, and the size of the Olympic Park project. The report said transport demands would be met in London providing "the substantial programme of public transport improvements is fully delivered before 2012".
06/29/05 01:14 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games:
CITY
Biggest city in the United States
Population: 8.1 million within municipal boundaries, 22 million in greater metropolitan area.
Average temperature over proposed Games period (July 27 to August 12): 28 degrees Celsius during past 30 years
Games bid leader: Dan Doctoroff (New York deputy mayor)
CONCEPT
New York's bid was conceived by Doctoroff on July 13 1994 during an Italy v Bulgaria World Cup soccer game at Giants Stadium.
The Games would lead to more than 800 acres of new or enhanced parkland. They would also help the city to develop deteriorated waterfront, and clean up two severely polluted lakes, and one of the largest garbage dumps in the world, Fresh Kills in Staten Island.
VENUES
New York would use many of its landmarks: road cycling in Staten Island would have the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, the marathon would pass through Times Square, along Broadway and over Brooklyn Bridge and the triathlon would be held in Central Park. The Olympic Village would be across the East River from the United Nations, basketball would be held in Madison Square Garden and baseball at the Yankee Stadium.
A plan to build a new, $2-billion West Side Olympic stadium in Manhattan was scuppered by state legislators earlier this month and organisers scrambled to arrange a replacement the day before an IOC deadline, doing a deal with baseball's Mets to use the new 80,000-capacity stadium they are building in the borough of Queens.
FINANCE
Budget of $3.1 billion. Officials project Games would bring regional economic impact of more than $12 billion and create more than 120,000 jobs.
TRANSPORT
Average athlete travel time to competitions projected to be 21 minutes. The three main sports clusters are within 10 kms of the Olympic Village.
PREVIOUS GAMES/BIDS
New York beat Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington D.C. to become the U.S. candidate.
New York City has never hosted the Olympics. New York State staged the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid.
New York has hosted 55 international championships or world cup events during the last four years, including 2003 world championships of freestyle wrestling and archery. It is the permanent home to U.S. Open tennis, track and field's indoor Millrose Games and the New York City Marathon.
Three U.S. cities have staged the summer Games -- St Louis in 1904, Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. Winter Olympics have been held in Squaw Valley (1960) and Salt Lake City (2002), as well as Lake Placid.
SUPPORT
The bid has been endorsed by U.S. President George W. Bush, New York governor George Pataki, New York senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton and mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Organisers have reached their goal of recruiting 60,000 volunteers. Bid officials say polls have shown support for Games at 75 percent, though it has dipped lower. Recent poll showed New York City voters approved by 61-29 percent the plan to build a new stadium for baseball's Mets that would be used for the 2012 Olympics.
Muhammad Ali will join the New York delegation in Singapore for the July 6 IOC vote.
SECURITY
New York Police Department's (NYPD) 36,000-member force boasts advanced counter-terrorism and intelligence programmes, intensified after the September 11 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings that killed 2,749 people. NYPD, who have secured international events from the World Economic Forum to the annual U.N. General Assembly, have developed preliminary security plans for every venue and all Olympic transportation routes.
IOC INTERIM VERDICT
An IOC evaluation commission report earlier this month said New York's bid was high quality, appearing to put it behind Paris and London which were both praised for "very high quality" bids. The commission was concerned about lack of guarantees over the new stadium.
06/28/05 21:09 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
********************************************
FACTBOX-London's 2012 Olympic bid
LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games:
CITY
Capital of Britain
Population: seven million
Average temperature over proposed Games period (July 27 to August 12): 14 to 21 degrees Celsius
Games bid chairman: Sebastian Coe, former double Olympic athletics champion.
CONCEPT
London's bid is centred on a run-down area in the east of the city, where the Olympic village would be built. Organisers have stressed the importance of "legacy", saying the Olympics would help to rejuvenate one of Europe's most deprived areas.
London is Europe's most cosmopolitan city. More than one-quarter of the inhabitants were born abroad and the city is home to more than 200 ethnic communities who between them speak more than 300 languages.
A city that prides itself on its culture, London has more than 200 museums, 500 cinemas and five symphony orchestras.
Thirty-nine percent of London's total area is made up of parks and green spaces, more than any other comparable city.
VENUES
Five facilities -- the Olympic stadium, the aquatics centre, the velopark, the hockey centre and the indoor arena -- would remain after the Games.
The athletes' village would be converted into 3,600 apartments, many for low-paid workers such as teachers and nurses who struggle to pay London's astronomical property prices.
London would use 31 venues for the Games. These include Lord's Cricket ground (Archery), Wimbledon (Tennis), Horse Guards' Parade (Beach Volleyball), Regent's Park (Softball and Baseball) and a new 80,000-seat Olympic stadium.
The city has pledged to complete all its venues 18 months before the Games start.
FINANCE
London has an operating budget of $2.79 billion. The British government has put in place a public funding package to the tune of $4.41 billion to cover the cost of building new venues, improving transport infrastructure, security and other contingencies.
TRANSPORT
Organisers say 80 percent of athletes would be housed within 20 minutes' travel of their events.
Ten railway lines would serve the Olympic Park. Nine already exist and the 10th, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from Kings Cross station in central London, will be finished by 2007.
The Games would be staged in late July and early August, when the city's traffic demand typically falls by 20 percent. Mayor Ken Livingstone and the government have pledged $30 billion to improve the city's transport infrastructure, long seen as the Achilles' heel of London's bid.
PREVIOUS GAMES/BIDS
This is the first time London has bid for an Olympic Games. It was awarded the Games in 1908, after Rome backed out, and in 1948, after World War Two.
Britain has struggled with its image in world sport after being forced to pull out of staging the 2005 world athletics championships because of problems building a stadium in London. However it went some way to repairing the damage by hosting a successful Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.
SUPPORT
Backers of the bid include Nelson Mandela, England soccer captain David Beckham, Australian Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman and former India cricket captain Kapil Dev.
The IOC evaluation committee report earlier this month said only 68 percent of Londoners supported the city's bid. A poll for the Guardian newspaper in February said 74 percent of Britons backed the bid but only 39 percent thought London would win.
SECURITY
Police chiefs says Britain's unrivalled experience in fighting terrorism combined with its unarmed, unobtrusive police service would make London a safe and welcoming city. They say London's experience in dealing with terrorism, such as the 30-year campaign waged by the Irish Republican Army and more recently the threat from Islamic militants, put London's Metropolitan Police in good stead to cope with the Games.
British police have advised the IOC on security matters since the Los Angeles Games in 1984, the government says.
IOC INTERIM VERDICT
This month's IOC evaluation report said London's bid was of "very high quality". The budget was "well-supported and achievable" and its bid "indicated a high level of planning". There was a cautionary note regarding London's transport system, however, and the size of the Olympic Park project. The report said transport demands would be met in London providing "the substantial programme of public transport improvements is fully delivered before 2012".
06/29/05 01:14 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.