City Says It Will Set Aside $101m For Games Security
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Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff made public yesterday the city’s 600-page bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, disclosing that the city would set aside $101 million for security costs during the nearly three weeks of the event. That sum is unlikely to cover the cost of securing the city, but the federal government will handle the added costs, he said at a press conference.
“The $101 million will not be enough, but with the federal government stepping up, as they have said they would, the city will not spend out of pocket for security,” Mr. Doctoroff said.
The three-volume “bid book,” which was submitted Monday to the International Olympic Committee, has a detailed budget that goes so far as to include a person-by-person payroll breakdown for the overall budget of $2.69 billion.
NYC2012, the official name for the Olympic committee, is estimating the games will generate more than $2 billion in local and national revenues, translating into $153 million for the International Olympic Committee.
Mr. Doctoroff would not say how much security costs would total for protecting the city during the games, but he said a comparison to the Athens games, which cost a reported $1.2 billion for security alone, was immaterial for New York.
“Athens is irrelevant because it didn’t have a modern infrastructure, and most of what was spent was on things we take for granted in New York,” Mr. Doctoroff said, adding that the security costs for the New York games would cost “a fraction” of the Athens total.
The security budget will cover some of the New York Police Department, which will have operational responsibility for security during the games, with other volunteers supplementing the officers, according to the 2012 bid book. The budget will also cover some overtime, contract security guards, and additional security equipment.
In terms of the federal financing, Mr. Doctoroff compared the Olympics to the Republican National Convention held this summer in Manhattan, which cost $58 million in security. The city covered $8 million while the federal government shelled out $50 million each for the New York and Boston conventions.
The secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, said he would designate the games a “national special security event” to ensure a level of funds similar to the millions provided to Salt Lake City for its 2002 Winter Games, according to a letter received by the city’s Olympic committee. The federal government allocated $340 million for security costs for those games, according to General Accounting Office data.
Other highlights of the plan include its Olympic “X” plan, in which 17 of 28 sports are concentrated in three clusters along an “X” that runs on two routes through the city, intersecting at the Olympic Village.
The clusters of venues are all within a five-minute walk of the Olympic Village, which is to house the 16,000 athletes, coaches, and team officials in 4,400 apartments. With an average size of 300 square feet – larger than most Olympic Village apartments – the apartments will be at Long Island City, Queens, along the East River, with views of the United Nations and Midtown Manhattan.
Other features of the plan include an Olympic hospital network of more than 70 hospitals, which have agreed to provide care in connection with the Olympics, and an Olympic hotel network of more than 200 hotels, which have committed 45,000 rooms. Also envisioned is an international hospitality program for athletes’ families, so they can stay for free with members of a local community hailing from their homeland.
As for transportation, more than 90% of spectators, workers, and volunteers are expected to use mass transit, which is near to most venues. The federal government has agreed to contribute $75 million for improvements, and NYC2012 has added a special Olympic lane for athletes traveling to and from their events, in answer to concern expressed by the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Doctoroff said.
Technology for mass-media coverage is already largely established in the city, with spectrum already allocated to accommodate the 9,000-plus radios needed to cover the Games, although additional plans are in place to increase capacity. The other four cities still in the running for the mantle of host city are Paris, Moscow, London, and Madrid. A final decision on the 2012 Olympics is to be reached next July.