Close

New York 2012 Gets Boost – Jets Stadium Bid Accepted

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board voted unanimously Thursday in favour of the New York Jets proposed 1.9 billion Manhattan stadium, a centrepiece of New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The state agency accepted the team’s bid for development rights to a 13-acre parcel near the Hudson River.

But some are not happy with the result. New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a stadium foe, told the board before the vote, “this is not over. This is a terrible mistake”.

On the eve of the vote more than 20 Olympians and Paralympians representing the more than 1900 members of NYC2012’s Circle of Olympians and Paralympians joined thousands of supporters at a rally in front of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority to show their support for the New York Sports and Convention enter.

And earlier in the week Congressman Joe Crowley endorsed the plan, standing on the steps of City Hall among a coalition of civic and community leaders and representatives of numerous labour unions.

The New York Sports and Convention Center would serve as the Olympic Stadium for the 2012 Games and would host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Track and Field Competitions, if New York hosts the 2012 Games.

Because it is a multi-use facility with a tremendous after-Games use as a convention centre and stadium, it would create thousands of jobs and generate hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue for the city and state.

Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday shows that 53 per cent of New Yorkers oppose the stadium while 38 per cent approve of it, a margin consistent since January.

scroll to top