MTA funding going to upstate bobsled track

From NBC:

Winter athletes and their neighbors in the Adirondack Mountains have long praised Albany for funneling subsidies to the upstate Olympic Training Facility. But last year some downstate lawmakers criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo for diverting almost $5 million from the 2016 MTA budget to the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), the quasi-state agency that manages Lake Placid’s Olympic venues.

“The MTA is supposed to be for the mass transit system here in New York City and its surrounding suburbs, and yet millions of dollars were going upstate to finance a ski resort,” said state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria). “It struck a lot of us as odd, especially at a time when the MTA is in a desperate situation. The trains are breaking down. They’re not running on time. Delays are increasing by the day.”

At the time, the Cuomo administration defended sending the $5 million payment to ORDA, saying it was a routine way of reimbursing the state for money the MTA owed to Albany. It’s also worth noting, $5 million is a tiny fraction of the nearly $7 billion Albany sends to the MTA annually.

Still, the cash transfer has given birth to a simple question: should any money intended for the downstate subway tracks go to help fund an upstate bobsled track?

DeBlasio thankfully doesn't want Olympics

From the Observer:

Mayor Bill de Blasio gave lengthier explanation of why his administration decided not to pursue a bid for the 2024 Olympic games today, slapping down what had been a dream of the prior administration.

While delivering a speech at NYU’s International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, he expanded on anti-Olympics arguments made last week at another press conference.

“New York City is already at such an extraordinary point, because thanks to some of you in this room our tourism industry couldn’t be stronger, our international reputation couldn’t be better, our brand couldn’t be more well respected all over the world,” Mr. de Blasio said at the university, his alma mater. “So we thought, in a classic New York phrase, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

Mr. de Blasio came prepared with a notebook full of statistics. He said that last year the city had welcomed 54 million visitors, received 39 billion dollars in direct spending and that the tourism industry had been responsible for 350,000 jobs. This year, hotel room night occupation is up 6.9 percent in comparison to last year and Broadway theaters reported their highest grosses for a Memorial Day weekend in recorded history, according to the mayor.

All of this means, in the eyes of Mr. de Blasio, that the revenue the Olympics could potentially bring to New York City isn’t necessary.

Doctoroff's back and wants the Olympics in Sunnyside

From Crains:

Now the CEO of Bloomberg LP, Mr. Doctoroff is back at it with a plan to organize a bid for the 2024 games, centered this time on the Sunnyside yards area of Queens. The Doctoroff playbook is at work again. He would put a deck over the rail yards and presumably build his Olympics stadium there as well as thousands of housing units needed for the athletes. Most important, he would construct the world-class convention center New York has always lacked to replace the cramped, money-losing and economically-hamstrung Jacob Javits Convention Center on the West Side, which in turn would free up that key parcel on the West Side for other development.

What could be more compelling? Create new land in a city starved for space, create much needed housing and solve the convention center problem that has bedeviled the city's business community for 30 years. And generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the city or state from the West Side site.

Mr. Doctoroff has had his eye on the rail yards for some time. He had raised the issue of decking over rail yards like Sunnyside in his ambitious NYCPlan 2030 released in 2007, which tried to chart a way to accommodate a growing population while protecting the environment. Almost two years ago, he made moving Javits to Sunnyside the centerpiece of a 2012 speech that seemed to mark a return to public policy.

Olympics deja vu

From the Daily News:

With the Olympic Games that New York lost to London just weeks away, a quiet buzz is building around the potential for another Gotham bid.

The U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee resolved a revenue-sharing dispute in May that helped sink New York’s 2012 bid. On Tuesday, the USOC said it is mulling a submission for the 2024 Summer Games and the 2026 winter installment.

The Big Apple, with its bid experience and upgraded infrastructure, is being mentioned as a top contender for 2024, but Dallas and Chicago are providing tough competition, sources familiar with the process say.

The region now boasts new stadiums and arenas in Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey. Madison Square Garden is being renovated, and two subway extensions — most notably the East Side line — should be complete by 2024.

But several obstacles remain, due in part to the 2012 legacy.

It called for an Olympic Village to be built in Long Island City, Queens, and an Olympic Stadium on the West Side. Both sites are being now developed for other uses. As a result, the city has no venue large enough to serve as a main stadium for track and field or an aquatics center, said a source with experience building Olympic venues.

Ludwig argued the tougher sell for 2024 would be public money to guarantee the Games and to provide security. New York boasts the best security force in the world, but the recent terror-scheme busts in Britain highlight the difficulties of hosting an international event.