Queens Going For The Gold

In a decision that could bring dramatic changes to Queens landscape, economy and infrastructure, the United States Olympic Committee chose New York over San Francisco last Saturday as its nominee to host the Olympic Games in 2012.
"What feels best about it is that the excitement is shared by so many New Yorkers," said Jay Kriegel, executive director of NYC 2012, the citys Olympic bidding committee. "The outpouring of excitement this weekend was remarkable. Its such a broad group of people across the city who share this and understand its power and its value."
The next step is to organize for 2005, when the International Olympic Committee will make its final choice for the 2012 Olympic host city among several other countries nominees.
To strengthen its position, NYC 2012 has formed Nations of New York, a group of 320 ethnic organizations charged with drumming up international support for a Big Apple Olympics.
Proposals For Queens
According to NYC 2012, the New York-New Jersey area would gain "tens of thousands" of new jobs and "a local economic impact approaching $11 billion," a figure that takes into account factors such as tax revenue, purchases and job creation.
Proposals are for Western Queens, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and Breezy Point which organizers say will benefit the public long after the games are gone.
In Long Island City, the 4,400-unit Olympic Village will house 16,000 athletes and coaches in townhouses and highrise apartments to be built at Queens West. After the athletes leave, the apartments will be leased to private tenants. The nearby Queensbridge Athletic Center will house seven badminton courts and a cycling track.
In Astoria Park, the swimming pool that was used for Olympic trials in 1936 and 1964 will be replaced with three new pools for diving, swimming and synchronized swimming competitions, and training.
In Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Meadow and Willow Lakes will be joined to form a 2,000-meter venue for rowing and flatwater canoeing. Jewel Avenue will become an arch-shaped bridge over the lake. NYC 2012s plans call for the lakes to be cleaned of polluted sediments and for new wetlands to clean highway runoff and provide a habitat for fish and wildlife.
The Fountain of the Planets will be converted into a 400-meter ring for whitewater canoeing. The venue is slated to include three new boathouses, from which recreational users can rent kayaks and take boating lessons. Other promised improvements to the park include three new baseball diamonds, two new softball fields, and several new soccer fields.
The waters between Coney Island and the Rockaway Peninsula will be used for sailing competitions, and a new Breezy Point marina will be built in the Gateway National Recreation Area.
Despite the euphoria that surrounded New Yorks selection, some reacted with caution and even skepticism.
Paul Graziano, a local civic activist and urban planning consultant, believed that taxpayers would shell out billions for the Olympics, contrary to NYC 2012s assertion that they would be privately funded. Pat Dolan, another Queens activist, has long cited environmental and public-access concerns in opposition to NYC 2012s plan to dredge and join Meadow and Willow Lakes.
Kriegel responded that parks are already owned by the public, and that local soccer leagues and boating groups supported NYC 2012s plan. He also stated that the economic benefits of bringing the Olympics to the city were "far greater than anything else we could do in the next ten years."