Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 bid?

[SQUACKEE]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>and doesn't NEW YORK have enough other MORE suitable problems to throw ones tax dollars at??

wouldnt be great if that actually worked?

[MJD]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>>The idea that it's some great "honor" for a city to get the Olympics
>is
>something of a joke. How long did it take Montreal to pay off the debt
>from
>'76? >>

If I'm not mistaken, the question for Montrál is how long
>WILL it take. Far as I know, the legacy of Johnny Flag lives on 30 years later.

Right but they are close, at least according to this:

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/Featured/ ... eGold.html

[deltre]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>Ok, from the posts here, it seems like there are two camps:

1) Those who do
>not like the Olympic experience at all, due to the Olympic hassles, and
2)
>Those who just don't want to come to New York!

I used to love NYC. It used to be "everybody's home town." Although the demographics have changed dramatically, I still like the city. I have many friends in the metro area, a granddaughter teaching school in Brooklyn, and a grandson at the USMA at West Point so we visit the city on occasion. But in my opinion, if one is not a trust fund baby, a Powerball winner, or a dot-com millionaire, one would not be able to afford two weeks in New York for the OG's. That would be STRICTLY for high rollers. Rooms would be in the stratosphere and transportation would be impossible. Maybe you could get a nice motel room in Binghampton or Lancaster, Pa. for $250 a night.

[ajp]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>My antipathy is based on one thing: I can't think of a much worse city--both
>for my personal pleasure, and for outdoor athletes trying to compete under
>optimal conditions--than New York in the summer.

If you live there and are
>used to it, fine, but for this outsider, it's just too hot, humid, dirty and
>grimy. This outsider loves NYC as a city. It's fabulous with a nice coating of
>snow in the winter.


Come now. Can't think of a much worse city for outdoor athletes trying to compete under optimal conditions? I can. Try Atlanta, or Los Angeles, or Sacramento. How about Paris where thousands died of the heat just before the 2003 Worlds, or Athens with its temperature in the hundreds, or Seville? How about Beijing where the air is not fit to breathe?

Personal pleasure is of course, a personal thing, and it is true that NY is not for the sanitized set, but many consider that a small price to pay for having access to more of the greatest museums, concert halls, theatre, pro sports of all kinds, universities, restaurants, bars, beaches, and hospitals, than any city in the US.

That being said, I would rather have the Olympic Games somewhere else. NY doesn't need the Games and who wants all those people crowding into the city.

[200meter]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

I always have hoped that Toronto would someday be host to the Olympics. I spend a lot of time there on business and have found it to be clean, tolerant, very multicultural, easy to get around in on mass transit, highly intellectual, and overall an interesting place to be.

[deltre]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

The bars in Manhattan are fine if you like paying six dollars for domestic beer and $8.75 for an average martini. As for the beaches near NYC, if you have the nerve to visit them, you might need to visit one of the famous hospitals.

[KevinM]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

If those are the prices you are paying for beer in NYC, you must be going to bars in and around major tourist areas, or else you aren't going to bars as much as you are going to lounges or clubs.

[deltre]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>If those are the prices you are paying for beer in NYC, you must be going to
>bars in and around major tourist areas, or else you aren't going to bars as
>much as you are going to lounges or clubs.

I'm talking about an AVERAGE gin mill anywhere in Manhattan. Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens are about a third less expensive. An average restaurant meal for two in Manhattan is easily $100. On the upside, one can buy a "genuine Rolex" on a Manhattan street for six bucks. (courtesy of comedian Richard Jeni.

[KevinM]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

An average gin mill in Manhattan is NOT charging $6 for a domestic. I rarely, if ever, pay more than $5 for a Guiness. Domestic major brands are usually in the $4 range unless, as I said, you are frequenting traps in Times Square/Theater area.

[einnod23]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>An average gin mill in Manhattan is NOT charging $6 for a domestic. I rarely,
>if ever, pay more than $5 for a Guiness. Domestic major brands are usually in
>the $4 range unless, as I said, you are frequenting traps in Times
>Square/Theater area.

Y'all need to step to some places in either the East Village or Brooklyn. You CAN drink cheap.

[deltre]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

KevinM, you're obviously a NYC local who knows the local Manhattan scene a lot better than any visitor could. That's why they're called "tourists". NYC, especially Manhattan, has for years been the priciest city in the US to visit. If the OG's were ever awarded to the Big Apple, today's costs in real dollars would seem like bargains. Similar gouging goes on annually at events like the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, Mardi Gras, etc. These events only last a few days, and yet they are still priced out of reach of most working stiffs. The OG's last for weeks. The ticket prices alone would preclude most T&F fans from attending the Games on a daily basis. The OG's and the T&F portion in particular would become like a championship boxing match; movie stars, politians and celebrities the majority of the crowd.I'm not in poverty by any means, but I know that my budget couldn't take a hit like two weeks in Manhattan for my wife for the OG's. The Atlanta trip was bad enough.

[KevinM]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

Yes, as you mentioned I live in NYC, but I don't want to give the impression that I was referring to out of the way or semi-secret places where drinks and food are less than the crazy prices you mentioned.

I've run across prices similar to what you mentioned at touristy places in nearly every major American city. I'm not so sure that NYC is unusual in this regard. True that you can get gouged in and around Times Square, but even in that neighborhood anyone willing to settle for a place to drink/eat that isn't a major chain or landmark can pay decent rates.

I think that the transportation infrastructure, both regionally and within NYC, makes the city fairly desireable for those who wouldn't want to stay in Manhattan proper during the games. Because of NYC Transit, Metro North, LIRR, and New Jersey Transit, you will be able to stay anywhere from Trenton in the South to New Haven or Poughkeepsie in the North and still be able to get to venues in a reasonable amount of time.

[deltre]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

Two hours on a commuter train each way from Trenton or New Haven to Manhattan, then a crowded bus to the stadium. Sounds like fun to me! And what accommodations! New Haven perhaps, but not scenic Trenton!

[mojo]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

>I always have hoped that Toronto would someday be host to the Olympics. I
>. I spend a lot of time there on business and have found it to be clean,
>tolerant, very multicultural, easy to get around in on mass transit, highly
>intellectual, and overall an interesting place to be.


I am Canadian so I am biased but I agree about TO. It is a clean, well organized and diverse city which would do a great job IMHO. I hope they bid again but with Vancouver winning the 2010 Winter Olympics it could be a while.

[KevinM]

Re: Are non-New Yorkers on this board scared of a NYC 2012 b

Trenton and New Haven were obviously my extreme points. 15 minutes closer in from Trenton and you have a ton of hotels around Princeton.

Fact remains that MSG stands on top of the busiest train station in the US, and you would only have a 10-15 minute WALK (not "crowded bus") to the proposed Oly Stadium. Getting out to the Meadowlands for concerts/games is easy enough now, and that involves going through Port Authority. I'm guessing connections to those facilities would be streamlined for 2012.

I don't necessarily have a strong opinion on whether or not NYC should get the Games, but I strongly disagree arguing against it for the reasons you listed.