NEW YORK, Feb 21 (AFP) - A three million-dollar charm offensive by New York to win the 2012 Olympics began here Monday with organizers pitching legacy and diversity to International Olympic Committee evaluation committee members.
"New York is a place where the entire world would feel welcome," said bid committee executive director Jay Kriegel. "The Olympic values of openness and diversity would work well because this city demonstrates those values every day."
The 13-member IOC panel has visited Madrid and London and travels to Paris and Moscow next month before preparing a report in advance of the July 6 vote on a 2012 host in Singapore.
In the posh Plaza Hotel's second floor Baroque Room, dubbed "the field of play" by organizers, delegations sat on opposite sides at curved tables with opening remarks by mayor Michael Bloomberg and bid chairman Dan Doctoroff.
A large television screen behind bidders was used for several presentations to the IOC members, seated with their backs to windows on Central Park and "The Gates" art exhibit, oranges drapes standing bold in new-fallen snow.
"It looks beautiful out there. It's symbolic of what the city is all about," Kriegel said. "This is a city where spontaneous things happen all the time. It's a city of energy.
"This will be a great stage. This is a welcoming city, a hometown city for every athlete in the world. We have New Yorkers from all over the world. Every athlete can feel like they have a hometown crowd."
On the US Presidents Day holiday, US President George W. Bush was in Belgium starting a European tour amid protesters, an anti-American sentiment that could scuttle New York's plan.
Other nations have used leaders in presentations, but Kriegel said Bush's absence would not hurt the only finalist city that is not a national capital.
"We have the full support in every way we need of the national government," he said. "It's a technical evaluation. What they're looking at is your capability, your readiness to hold the Games.
"We feel we have a spectacular plan. All the bid cities have excellent plans. What's unique about our plan is it concentrates all the action in the center of the city."
The Olympic Village, revamped in the wake of earlier IOC review critiques, would be across from the United Nations and at the heart of an X-shaped transportation hub that brings the city's nightlife within reach for athletes.
Surrounded by three sides by water, the village would be 2km from the site of a 17 million-gallon oil spill. About half the oil has been removed.
"There's no danger to any athletes at that site," said Andrew Winters, bid planning and design director, citing a new sewage treatment plant that would operate by 2009. "That we feel will create a non-issue of that concern."
Vowing 100,000 jobs and 50,000 new post-Olympic homes as a result of the village and Games construction, Kriegel vowed, "sport facilities will become the centerpiece of new neighborhoods."
Strict restrictions on gift-giving and entertainment of IOC delegations was imposed in the wake of the 2002 Salt Lake City bid scandal.
"Every competition has rules and we'll abide by them," Kriegel said. "I don't think there's anything in the rules that prevents us from doing exactly what we want to do."
Athlete transportation through notorious New York traffic, once planned by train and ferry, would be in special Olympic bus lanes.
"New York has a lot of experience doing things like that," Kriegel said. "Setting up special lanes is something the New York Police Department has a lot of experience doing."
Uncertainty surrounds a 1.4 billion-dollar Olympic stadium project. Madison Square Garden has made a 600 million-dollar offer to develop the property owned by Metropolitan Transit Authority. Proposals will be considered in March.
"They will be here four days discussing a lot of subjects. The question is whether the press will be capable of discussing anything else," Kriegel said.
Doctoroff has said the matter will be settled before the IOC vote.

02/21/2005 16:37 GMT - AFP