Mayor’s Pep Talk Cites Resilience On Stadium Issue

SINGAPORE – Backed by a walking, talking Statue of Liberty, Mayor Bloomberg delivered a feisty Fourth of July pep talk yesterday on behalf of his city’s Olympic bid – saying an 11th-hour change in stadium plans was evidence of pluck and adaptability.“New Yorkers have shown that when they get knocked down, they get back up,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “We didn’t drop out, we didn’t cry about it.”He was referring to a state panel’s rejection, in early June, of a plan for an expensive new stadium in Manhattan. Bid officials swiftly devised a new plan for a cheaper stadium in the less fashionable borough of Queens.New York is widely considered to be trailing Paris and London in the heated race for the 2012 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will chose among five contenders – including Madrid and Moscow – on Wednesday.Yesterday, America’s Independence Day, marked the first full day of lobbying in Singapore by Mr. Bloomberg, who was joined at a news conference by Olympic champions, President Bush’s personal representative, and a woman with green-painted skin dressed in a contest-winning Statue of Liberty costume.One of the athletes sharing the podium, Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, a five-time gold medal winner, said his affection for New York stems in part from his presence in the city during the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.“I saw the resolve,” Mr. Thorpe said of the city’s response to the devastation. “I know what New York can do.”Mr. Bloomberg also alluded to September 11, 2001.“We want an opportunity to say thank you to the world, which rallied in our support when we needed it,” he said.Earlier today, the IOC’s executive board approved the revision of the NYC2012 stadium plans.“We accepted what happened in New York and the change of the stadium,” Gerhard Heiberg of Norway, an executive board member, said. “It’s been examined and been accepted, no problem.”The mayor said the rejected stadium in Manhattan might have been better for the city in the long term, but he insisted the revised plan was as good or better in terms of staging the Olympics. Under the plan, the New York Mets would build a new baseball stadium next to Shea Stadium, and the new facility would be expanded temporarily to accommodate Olympic events.Roland Betts, Mr. Bush’s personal representative on the New York delegation and a 40-year friend of the president, spoke briefly. Though Mr. Bush – unlike the leaders of Britain and France – is not coming to Singapore, Mr. Betts described him as “a huge fan of the Olympics.”Mr. Betts also noted that Mr. Bush’s birthday is Wednesday – the day New York will learn the fate of its bid – and said, “I know what I’m going to get him.”Senator Clinton joined the New York delegation earlier today. The former first lady was put to work immediately – even before her first bite of breakfast after a long flight. Mrs. Clinton was promptly led over to meet an IOC member.“New York City exemplifies Olympic values every single day,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Living in New York is like living in an Olympic Village – you have every language from every corner of the globe.”

Mayor’s Pep Talk Cites Resilience On Stadium Issue

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