InsightNYC2012: Reflections on New York's Olympic Bid
Of course we all know the 2012 Olympics are currently being held in London, but it wasn't always so. Back before the London Olympics were a reality, many New Yorkers and New York organizations, including Two Twelve, were involved with NYC2012 — the organization responsible for New York City's bid to host the Olympics. From 2000-2004, we were responsible for designing the bid books and venue graphics for the official submissions to both the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Throughout that time, we all felt the exciting energy of planning for NYC's future. We were contributing to an event to which nearly everyone in the world was connected. We couldn't imagine the Olympics in any other location, nor any other course of action for New York. Being part of the tremendous effort to welcome the world and the world's athletes was thrilling.
A key component of the bid was to create an economic development legacy that would stretch beyond the games themselves. Today, the NYC2012 planners' visionary thinking is still visible. On Manhattan's West Side, a proposed location for the Olympic Stadium, the High Line has opened, the Hudson Rail Yard site is under development and the No 7. subway line is being extended to 33rd Street and 11 Avenue. The city's two baseball teams both have brand-new homes and the waterfront has become both a destination and a reinvigorated mode of transport with ferry access between the boroughs and Governors Island.
The London Games thus far are amazing and we congratulate them, but we are proud of the legacy of our city's Bid and of the New York City of 2012.
