Economist.com Cities Guide: New York Briefing - July 2005

News this month

Olympic failure

New York's Olympic dream ended abruptly on July 6th, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2012 Games to London. Some 250 politicians and delegates—including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Hillary Clinton and Muhammad Ali, a boxing legend—had lobbied hard for New York at the IOC's meeting in Singapore. But the city's bid was damaged beyond repair in June, when an obscure state panel rejected the proposed Olympic Stadium on Manhattan's West Side. Mr Bloomberg failed to salvage the bid with a “Plan B” stadium in Queens.

Unlike the other bids, New York's did not have a base of national support. President George Bush's absence from the presentation did not help (London's contingent included a very prominent Tony Blair, and Paris's enjoyed support from President Jacques Chirac). And the bid failed to galvanise New Yorkers: according to a poll in March just 60% of them supported hosting the Games, compared with 85% of Parisians and 91% of Madrileños. The bid's failure marks a personal defeat for Mr Bloomberg, but is unlikely to affect his re-election chances.

Subterranean blues

New York's 4.8m subway riders have not been happy with their subway system lately. Straphangers have had to deal with fare increases, token-booth closures, fewer train conductors, service disruptions, track fires and broken Metro Card machines. Now the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) may ban coffee. The MTA is considering new rules that would, among other things, ban drinking out of open containers in subway cars (milk bottles would be allowed). Movement between cars, wearing roller skates, and resting one's feet or packages on the seats may also be prohibited. In response to critics, the MTA postponed its vote on the new regulations until August, despite having had over a year to consider them. The rules were originally slated to take effect in October. A proposal to ban photography throughout the subway system in the name of public safety was rescinded last year.

But after the London transport bombings on July 7th, New Yorkers are more preoccupied with subway security. Since September 11th, the MTA has talked about spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve the safety of the transportation network, but only a fraction of this—about $30m as of March, according to the New York Times—has been spent, mostly on studies. MTA officials claim they will have a plan to spend more than $300m in state and federal funds by the end of the year. In the meantime, the city has done little to improve subway security.

Bright lights of Brooklyn

Manhattan’s skyscraping skyline is inseparable from New York's identity. The same cannot be said of Brooklyn, a large borough across the East River. But Bruce Ratner, a real estate developer, and Frank Gehry, a renowned architect, could change all that. They have put forward a $3.5 billion plan to redesign 21 acres of downtown Brooklyn, with 17 new buildings, including six skyscrapers. The tallest would be about 60 storeys high. The vast project surrounds the site of a proposed arena for the New York Nets basketball team, which could be ready for the 2008-09 season. The rest of the project is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

Mr Ratner and Mr Gehry still have several hurdles to overcome. They must get the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's approval to buy and develop the site, which is occupied by rail yards. They will need $100m in subsidies from both City Hall and the state, and a favourable environmental-impact review. And they must persuade “Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn”, a local residents’ group that wants to stop the project.

Hybrid taxis

New York's city council has unanimously passed a bill to allow hybrid taxis on the streets. Hybrids run on a mixture of petrol and electricity, covering more miles to the gallon and producing less pollution than traditional cars. Under the terms of the bill, the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which regulates cabs, has been given 90 days to approve at least one hybrid for use.

The TLC is concerned that hybrids won't have the same leg room or luggage space as the current 13,000-strong fleet. Still, the TLC is said to be close to picking a model for a trial run, and has already received bids for 27 licences for the taxis. New York is not the first city with environmentally friendly cabs—green San Francisco already has 15—and over 10% of New York’s 4,300 buses are hybrids.

Chew on this

Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi of Japan wolfed down 49 hotdogs in just 12 minutes to win the 90th annual Nathan's Famous hotdog-eating contest in Brooklyn's Coney Island on July 4th. Using his now legendary “Solomon technique” (he breaks sausages in two and dips buns in water), Mr Kobayashi won his fifth consecutive title, sponsored by Nathan’s Famous, a hotdog company. His nearest rival was Sonya “the Black Widow” Thomas, who stuffed down a gut-busting 37 “dogs”, breaking the American record. Mr Kobayashi, who weighs only ten stone, says he would have retired if he had broken his record of 53½, but now seems likely to return next year.

Catch if you can

July 2005

Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries

Until January 8th 2006

This splashy yet scholarly tour of dinosaur science is worth elbowing your way into. There are plenty of remarkable bones, skulls, media displays and dioramas—including one featuring Beipiaosaurus (pictured), a rather dapper feathered dinosaur found in China. But the real meat of the show is the work of scientists, with an emphasis on new, surprising discoveries. Each display gives a fairly sophisticated look at the process for reconstructing what these creatures must have been like.

For example, ferocity among dinosaurs may have just been a show for the ladies. Triceratops' brutal horns were too brittle for a fight, but just long enough to lure females. And the tails of various sauropods—which could taper from the diameter of a rubbish bin to that of a pencil tip—may have actually worked as a whip, cracked when the mood was right. Meanwhile, interactive graphics show how computer models were used to reckon how Tyrannosaurus ran. How fast? About ten miles per hour—perhaps slow enough for your correspondent to outrun it, after a good breakfast. Reinforcing this theory, the displays include a delightful robot of a T-rex strolling at a dignified pace.

American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West (at 79th St). Tel: +1 (212) 769-5100. Visit the museum’s website.

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