New York City Council’s Land Use Committee voted Thursday to approve the rezoning of the far West Side of Manhattan – the seventh in a ten step public approval process required before all elements of the West Side development project are approved and groundbreaking begins on the Olympic Stadium, clearing a hurdle in New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “the support for the rezoning resolution is the next important step in our sweeping development plan to revitalize the West Side of Manhattan and leave a bold legacy for generations of New Yorkers to come. The overall development of the West Side is central to our plans for the 2012 Olympic Games. For which we must couple our city’s unparalleled energy and enthusiasm with world-class facilities and venues”.
Deputy Mayor and NYC2012 founder Daniel Doctoroff said the plan “spurred on by our Olympic dream, will help ensure that the energy and excitement that the Olympic Games of 2012 would bring to this area will continue for decades”.
The $5.5 billion West Side Redevelopment encompasses a 59-square-block area on Manhattan’s West Side and includes the New York Sports and Convention Center, which would serve as the Olympic Stadium and would host Athletics events as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the expansion of the No. 7 subway line, which would be a central artery of transportation to Olympic venues, and extensive system of parks and greenways, which would serve as the Olympic Square and Olympic Boulevard, and gathering places for Olympic visitors and participants.
The expansion of the Javits Convention Center would serve as the venue for fencing, judo, Taekwondo, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling as well as the Main Press Center.
Mayor Bloomberg has said the redevelopment plan, which has several opponents, was essential for New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
