Pols, Community Groups to Protest West Side Stadium

NEW YORK CITY-A coalition of neighborhood organizations, civic groups and political figures will hold a press conference at noon tomorrow to voice their objection to the proposed development of a stadium on the West Side.

The protest, to be held in from of the Marriott Marquis hotel at 45th Street and Broadway, is planned to dovetail with the US Olympic Committee’s upcoming two-day visit in conjunction with the city’s bid to hold the 2012 Summer Olympics here. Proponents believe a stadium would be a major factor in the USOC’s decision.

NYC2012, the committee leading New York’s bid to snag the 2012 Olympics, proposes a venue over the West Side rail yards to be used as a football stadium for the New York Jets and for the Olympics. Opponents of the plan stress that they are not anti-Olympics, only anti-stadium, and claim that the media has failed to focus on the potential neighborhood impact and long-term cost that a stadium would incur.