The Willets Point Dream Has Died

The auto body shops in the Iron Triangle of Willets Point will live to see another day — New York has lost to Paris and the eventual winner, London, in voting to determine the 2012 Olympics host city:

In Singapore today, the city’s Olympic bid delegation – a group of about 300 people – watched the vote tally on a giant projector screen in a wing of the Ritz Carlton hotel. Guests sipped wine and nibbled on dumplings, spicy fish sausages and croissant-wrapped shrimp in what was a generally giddy atmosphere stoked by the perception that the team’s presentation was a show stopper. But when the losing results came in however, the room fell into a prolonged, stunned silence, according to people who were there.

Mmm . . . shrimp!

Reports indicate that the Q&A period during final presentations bordered on “tense,” even political in tone:

The question-and-answer portion had a tense moment when an I.O.C. member from Syria, Samih Moudallal, pointedly asked [Deputy Mayor Daniel] Doctoroff, “Would the athletes and the officials of these countries on the terrorist list, will they be allowed to enter the United States of America?” He went on to reference what he said were problems Syria had obtaining a visa for one of its Paralympic athletes during the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

And where New York’s delegation gently evoked the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks during its presentation, other countries were just as heartfelt:

Paris had begun its presentation with a note of humility, a nod to the criticism that its past two bids were too arrogant and turned off an organization that prefers to be wooed.

. . .

President Chirac, who did not attend the presentation for the last Paris bid, in 2001, made the most emotional appeal. He emphasized his long relationship with many I.O.C. members and talked about the French people’s desire to host the Games. “I shall vouch for this,” he said in French. “You can put your trust in France. You can trust the French. You can trust us.”

On the other hand, Madrid (whose presentation was the “least professional, relying on still photos with type superimposed for most of its visuals, as opposed to higher-quality video used by the other bids”) chose to emphasize the positive:

“Madrid will be a fiesta,” [Madrid Mayor Alberto] Ruiz-Gallardon said. “We have been celebrating the Olympic spirit for 50 years now.”

The 2012 Olympics will take place in London in 2012. Mmm . . . shrimp!