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U.S. Cities Capable of Bidding for an Olympics (Over the Next 30 Years)


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Terrace on the Park is an aging former Heliport that was turned into a catering hall that im sure if properly incentivized would gladly sell out on its lease of the space if other accommodations were made in the general area. It is quite an eyesore and there are more than enough banquet halls that could easily pick up the business needs of the area.

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Terrace on the Park is an aging former Heliport that was turned into a catering hall that im sure if properly incentivized would gladly sell out on its lease of the space if other accommodations were made in the general area. It is quite an eyesore and there are more than enough banquet halls that could easily pick up the business needs of the area.

Okay. But this reason may sound a bit silly, The Terrace on the Park is built directly across from the Queens Zoo. Don't you think zoo officials would protest the demolishing of the building and construction of a new sports venue, fearing the safety of the animals. Sorry to keep bombarding you with questions, but I'm very curious about this idea.

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Come to think about it a post olympics conversion to an aquarium structure could amend the zoo and create a whole section of the park dedicated to science and exploration. Right on the other side of TOTP is the Hall of Science so imagine a whole conglomeration of the three facilities into a trifecta of learning. Would be a boon to school aged children and families. A zoo, an Aquarium and Science museum all within a short walk from each other. Although i still stand by a post olympics use as a local aquatics facility would be ideal and would not hurt the zoo at all. After all the central park zoo is right smack in the middle of the hustle and bustle of manhattan and the animals are all ok there.

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Come to think about it a post olympics conversion to an aquarium structure could amend the zoo and create a whole section of the park dedicated to science and exploration. Right on the other side of TOTP is the Hall of Science so imagine a whole conglomeration of the three facilities into a trifecta of learning. Would be a boon to school aged children and families. A zoo, an Aquarium and Science museum all within a short walk from each other.

Personally, I love the idea of it. But NYC already has an aquarium. However adding an education center in that area post-games would definitely boost public support. That's another issue however. Probably the biggest one NYC would face. NYC2012 bid lacked public support compared to all the other cities. Even though their bid offered some nice ideas post games. How would this bid get the public to support these ones, especially since Flushing doesn't want a new stadium in their park.

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To respond to the point of having an aquarium already in the city we already have 5 zoos in the city as well so i think another aquarium in the city would be welcomed by all. Doesnt have to be on the same scale as the Georgia Aquarium but could provide a much needed annex to the already cramped NY Aquarium down in Coney Island. Back on to the topic of the Olympics and public opinion i do think the city has changed greatly since we last bid. Public opinion was greatly influenced the last time by Cablevision's Tom Dolan beating his drum against competition to his beloved MSG. By removing that factor and concentrating on the good vibes from london's recent games as well as the vision of moving the games from a Manhattan centric approach to something more about all 5 Boroughs of NYC would give it more a ring of investing in ourselves as opposed to just building for the games.

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To respond to the point of having an aquarium already in the city we already have 5 zoos in the city as well so i think another aquarium in the city would be welcomed by all. Doesnt have to be on the same scale as the Georgia Aquarium but could provide a much needed annex to the already cramped NY Aquarium down in Coney Island. Back on to the topic of the Olympics and public opinion i do think the city has changed greatly since we last bid. Public opinion was greatly influenced the last time by Cablevision's Tom Dolan beating his drum against competition to his beloved MSG. By removing that factor and concentrating on the good vibes from london's recent games as well as the vision of moving the games from a Manhattan centric approach to something more about all 5 Boroughs of NYC would give it more a ring of investing in ourselves as opposed to just building for the games.

Agreed. And if NYC could put forth a good bid and have a good amount of public support, I could see them winning. Especially if South Africa and Paris don't bid.

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To respond to the point of having an aquarium already in the city we already have 5 zoos in the city as well so i think another aquarium in the city would be welcomed by all. Doesnt have to be on the same scale as the Georgia Aquarium but could provide a much needed annex to the already cramped NY Aquarium down in Coney Island. Back on to the topic of the Olympics and public opinion i do think the city has changed greatly since we last bid. Public opinion was greatly influenced the last time by Cablevision's Tom Dolan beating his drum against competition to his beloved MSG. By removing that factor and concentrating on the good vibes from london's recent games as well as the vision of moving the games from a Manhattan centric approach to something more about all 5 Boroughs of NYC would give it more a ring of investing in ourselves as opposed to just building for the games.

I believe you're thinking of Jim Dolan, who is head of Cablevision. Tom Dolan would be the gold medal winning swimmer.

Part of the issue with a city like New York is how do you balance have the type of compact venue plan that we know the IOC is almost always looking for and something where all 5 boroughs of the city are involved. I would be totally behind a plan where Flushing Meadows is the center of action and could be the type of investing opportunity you're talking about. But will the IOC be interested? More importantly.. how does that work into the bigger plans for the city? As I've noted, a lot of projects spearheaded by the 2012 bid occurred anyway. For better or worse though, other elements that could be involved with an Olympic plan (i.e. the proposed development around Citi Field, the potential new MLS stadium in Queens) aren't going to wait. Someone needs to take the reigns, just like Dan Doctoroff did, and do it sooner rather than later. We keep talking about a "formidable bid" from New York or a "sound plan" but that won't happen on it's own. New York may be the world's greatest city (not that I'm biased or anything :D), but the prestige of the city isn't enough to get it done. We learned that the hard way 7 years ago.

So we're left with ideas that sound good in theory, but need to be put to practice. Forget the issue of public support because that's something that can be worked on later. There needs to be a person or a corporation that comes along with the vision and willingness to develop that plan. And you're right.. if New York can wow the IOC, they're going to be hard to be. But it's going to be difficult to get to that point, and to the previous points we've been talking about.. will there be someone who comes along to pursue that and sell it to the city. Without that, we won't see a bid consummated from a city like New York.

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@PotatoChips & Astoriaguy, please see this overhead shot of the recent 2012 Beach volleyball venue. How will that fit in either Rock Center or Times Square? Plus look at all the service tents around the stands as well. Those are needed for nearly every Olympic venue. And the IOC mandates open spaces for crowd access AND emergency vehicles' egress as well. I don't think a Rock Center or TS setting offers that, after you try to squeeze something like the below (at least 15,000 seating) into the extremely tight confines of TS and Rock Center.

Drawing_Horse_Guards_2.jpg

The other thing you didn't consider is that you cannot use paved-over surfaces like TS and Rock Center (w/ concrete surfaces) because you will need drainage for the sand courts. The Horse Guards Parade grounds (and all previous BV venues had unpaved sand, gravel, earth surfaces to begin with; so that offered natural drainage for the sand courts in the event of rain. If memory serves me right, in the NYC 2012 plan, they had BV down in Coney Island, close to the new arena for Indoor Volleyball.

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@PotatoChips & Astoriaguy, please see this overhead shot of the recent 2012 Beach volleyball venue. How will that fit in either Rock Center or Times Square? Plus look at all the service tents around the stands as well. Those are needed for nearly every Olympic venue. And the IOC mandates open spaces for crowd access AND emergency vehicles' egress as well. I don't think a Rock Center or TS setting offers that, after you try to squeeze something like the below (at least 15,000 seating) into the extremely tight confines of TS and Rock Center.

Drawing_Horse_Guards_2.jpg

The other thing you didn't consider is that you cannot use paved-over surfaces like TS and Rock Center (w/ concrete surfaces) because you will need drainage for the sand courts. The Horse Guards Parade grounds (and all previous BV venues had unpaved sand, gravel, earth surfaces to begin with; so that offered natural drainage for the sand courts in the event of rain. If memory serves me right, in the NYC 2012 plan, they had BV down in Coney Island, close to the new arena for Indoor Volleyball.

BV was going to be played in a new stadium along the east river, next to the aquatics center. Indoor Volleyball was going to be played in New Jersey.

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One place for BV in NYC is Forest Hills Stadium. Even though it is in a tennis center, I'm pretty sure it could work. The stadium holds over 10,000 not to mention multiple tennis courts in that area.

That's actually not such a terrible idea. I know some folks are looking for landmark preservation status before they demolish the stadium and turn it into housing. There's plenty of room there for the support areas (and they'd probably need some parking as well, even though a subway is fairly close by). Only problem is that it's pretty much a residential area, so I don't know how that's going to go over with them. But it would be pretty nice in terms of legacy.

The other 2 options I'd consider.. Wollman Rink in Central Park. That's where they had beach volleyball for the 1998 Goodwill Games. Don't know what the capacity was, but seems like it would be an option. Could be some logistical issues, but it's a very centrally located venue that would be easier for a lot of people to get to, security concerns notwithstanding of course. The other option that baron already brought up is Coney Island. It is a beach after all. Near plenty of subway lines. And we know they can handle big crowds for competitive eating. Why not for beach volleyball!

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Those all sound like good ideas. As far as the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills after doing some research on the area it could be a logistical nightmare with it being surrounded by Forest Hills Gardens the residents would shoot down the idea along with the tight roads surrounding the Club. Similar issue when NYC2012 originally pitched the Astoria Park Pool for the Aquatics events even though it sat on an ideal visual location right on the East River Facing manhattan it was surrounded by narrow streets about a 13 block walk from the N/Q Ditmars Blvd Station. WSTC is about a 5 minute walk from the 71st & Continental Station on the E,F,R and M lines but access for emergency vehicles is very tight so it may be a security issue. Wollman Rink would be a great spot in the middle of the park and maybe a new suggestion thrown into the pot McCarren Park in Williamsburg. The park's pool had a recent resurgence as a music venue and even though now it has been converted back to its original use as a public pool there is room in the park to set up a good sized BV stadium with practice courts. The park is serviced by the Nassau ave station on the G line and the Bedford ave Station on the L.

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That's actually not such a terrible idea. I know some folks are looking for landmark preservation status before they demolish the stadium and turn it into housing. There's plenty of room there for the support areas (and they'd probably need some parking as well, even though a subway is fairly close by). Only problem is that it's pretty much a residential area, so I don't know how that's going to go over with them. But it would be pretty nice in terms of legacy.

The other 2 options I'd consider.. Wollman Rink in Central Park. That's where they had beach volleyball for the 1998 Goodwill Games. Don't know what the capacity was, but seems like it would be an option. Could be some logistical issues, but it's a very centrally located venue that would be easier for a lot of people to get to, security concerns notwithstanding of course. The other option that baron already brought up is Coney Island. It is a beach after all. Near plenty of subway lines. And we know they can handle big crowds for competitive eating. Why not for beach volleyball!

This is one of the more obvious locations, venue wise, for any NYC Olympics. Coney Island/Brighton Beach would be perfect with the Boardwalk crying out for refurbishment, and ALOT of space for a temporary stadium.

If the city is able, the Beach Volleyball should be on, or near... the beach! Look at Copa in Rio 2016 or Bondi in Sydney 2000... some of the favourite venues of the respective Olympics.

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This is one of the more obvious locations, venue wise, for any NYC Olympics. Coney Island/Brighton Beach would be perfect with the Boardwalk crying out for refurbishment, and ALOT of space for a temporary stadium.

If the city is able, the Beach Volleyball should be on, or near... the beach! Look at Copa in Rio 2016 or Bondi in Sydney 2000... some of the favourite venues of the respective Olympics.

I don't know. I've been to the coney island beach, and I'll be honest, it's not the most pleasant beach in the world, usa, or NYC. But I do agree with you that beach volley ball should be played near/on the beach. But with a 10k+ stadium in the city, I don't think it should go to waste.

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Coney Island needs urban renewal, which is already in its early stages.

If you told someone 20 years ago that East London would one day boast a beautiful new park and stage the Olympics, they'd probably not believe you.

That's true. It would be really exciting seeing them completely redo that part of NYC. It's slowly becoming hot tourist spot and if they keep adding eye-catchers it would be incredible.

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