U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth warned the state’s top lawmakers that New York will lose its chance to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games if a plan for a Manhattan stadium is not approved, reports the Associated Press.
In a letter to state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Ueberroth said that failure to approve the West Side stadium “would grievously damage New York’s Olympic bid and America’s Olympic movement”.
“The (International Olympic Committee) has made it clear that without full approval of the proposed Olympic stadium before the IOC vote, New York’s bid will not be successful”, said Ueberroth in a May 5 letter which was obtained by the Daily News.
The stadium is a centrepiece of New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games.
Ueberroth warned in the letter, “the IOC will simply not take the risk of awarding the Games to a city that has not secured the necessary approvals for this marquee Olympic venue”.
A source told The News that Ueberroth sent the letter in part because Silver and Bruno publicly expressed doubt about the need to get the stadium approved before July 6.
According to the newspaper Silver and Bruno both denied accusations that they were endangering the city’s bid. Silver said, “the IOC doesn’t care if the stadium is in Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn or Staten Island. I support the Olympics coming to New York City and would work to ensure all necessary venues and facilities for a fully successful Olympics are in place by 2012 if the city wins’ the bid”.
Bruno’s spokesman, John McArdle, said Bruno is committed to building” whatever we need” if New York wins the bid.
Meanwhile, the stadium is facing another legal challenge. A lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association which opposes the stadium. The lawsuit takes issue with a new zoning amendment that would greatly increase the number of allowable parking spaces in garages in new buildings.
The suit is the latest in a series of legal actions aimed directly or indirectly at the proposed Jets Stadium and New York 2012 Olympic Stadium.
