Regarding NYC2012

A real quick rant on New York City's failed attempt at obtaining the 2012 Summer Olympics:

Alright, so I waited to write this rant until after the IOC made their decision. Now, I can provide my thoughts on their effort and explain to everyone that the decision to give the games to London is a blessing in disguise.

In case you didn't know, the island of Manhattan is only 22.7 square miles in area. And there's about 8 million people living in all of New York City, with a large number in Manhattan of course. Factor in the surrounding suburbs (Long Island, North Jersey, Westchester County, etc.), and we're talking about a pretty dense area. Case in point - they don't have enough room for all these people as it is! Here's a great idea: let's bid for the Olympics and invite the whole world to this little area where traffic is jammed 26 hours per day, parking is harder to find than Jimmy Hoffa, and you could easily be knocked flat on your face by the crowds of pedestrians on the streets during any hour of any weekday or holiday weekend. Of course, the events would also be held in other surrounding areas, but Manhattan is the focal point. Now please don't get me wrong here: I really enjoy the city, as you can tell from my time on the weekends spent there, but this whole Olympics thing would have been bad news. I mean, come on, Manhattanites were freakin out back in August when the Republic National Convention came to town. Residents took time off of work, or worked from home so they wouldn't have to commute. Others just took vacation and went to visit out of town relatives. No one wanted to be in the city during this time. And it was only for 1 week! The Olympics are 3 weeks long! I think New Yorkers would value their time away such a circus rather than being apart of the circus itself.

Another point is how the city shot themselves in the foot when they "crapped the bed" on the West Side stadium. Now, I don't blame the Jets at all for wanting a new stadium since they are playing in that dump, Giants Stadium. Hell, it's not even named for them, but instead for their NFL counterpart with whom they share that swamp monstrosity. But, at least football fans know they can get to the games on Sundays in the fall without having to park in Manhattan. There wasn't any room for the stadium on the West Side of Manhattan and the residents didn't want it there. It'd be a logistical nightmare. I still can't figure out which was stupider: the West Side stadium or the Phillies coming up with the brilliant idea several years ago to plan for a new stadium in Chinatown. Anyway, the Jets stadium failed and pretty much knocked NYC off the radar screen, since the IOC could see that they had a lot of work to do in preparation for such a large event. I don't doubt they could do it, but it seems that London put on a better bid in the end.

Again, I'm not knocking NYC's ability to host the Olympic games, and it would have been great for the economy. (Speaking of, how about the people who contributed private donations totaling $35 million for the NYC2012 campaign. Hope they get a tax deduction on that next April.) All I'm saying is that it would have been a disaster to get around anywhere in the area during that time. You'd see constant construction, congestion, and of course the increased threat of terrorism. I know that these points would stand true in any host city, but it's a different story for the people that actually live in the host city or around it.

They'll try again in 2009 with a bid for the 2016 games. With London receiving the 2012 bid, that takes Europe pretty much out of the running for 2016. That puts NYC back as a front-runner. Good news: I'll be far away (or at least back in Philadelphia) long before then.