Olympic Hopeful #1: NY One of Two Rivals for '12 Games

NEW YORK CITY-And then there were two. The city has cleared a major hurdle in its $2.7-billion bidH to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, with San Francisco now the only US competitor left standing of the four previously shortlisted contenders. The US Olympic Committee made the hotly awaited announcement at 5 pm yesterday afternoon.

(For a look at one Olympic contender that didn’t make the cut, click on Astrodome’s Fate in Limbo With Olympic Loss).

According to recent projections, the games would have a regional economic impact exceeding $11.3 billion while creating jobs equivalent to one year of employment each for 135,000 people. Of course, the city’s 66,500 hotel rooms would be full for the duration and every square inch of tourism-dedicated space in town would be maxed out.

Renovations to parks and other facilities would total $1.2 billion. Funds collected from television rights, sponsorships, licensing agreements and ticket sales are expected to rack up roughly $2.7 billion. (As a non-profit event, that amount would also equal total expenditures, with any profits going into a contingency fund.) And capital expenditures–sports facilities, the Olympic Village, international broadcast center and training facilities, among others, would total roughly $987 million.

And now that the field has been narrowed to two, city officials are unabashedly ebullient. “I believe we are going to make it, not just today, but on Nov. 3, and we are going to be the winning city in the US,” New York City Sports Commissioner Ken Podziba tells GlobeSt.com, referring to the date when the winning bid is announced. “The plan is so good–it gets you from venue to venue quicker than anyone else’s does. That’s what [the USOC] looks for. That’s what I believe our plan does the best.”