A crowd welcomes the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission at the start of its five-day visit to evaluate New York City for the 2012 games. Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty
Last week London, this week New York: what a busy jet-setting lifestyle it is for the 13 evaluation commission members on the Olympic International Committee.
The New York Times calls the visit "four days to sell a perfect Olympic vision" but the city's bid team have their work cut out if they are going to win the 2012 summer games. The bookmakers put the city that never sleeps behind Paris, London and Madrid. There are five cities on the shortlist but New York and Moscow are not currently in the running.
The New York Times notes that the city's bid has a substantial problem in the form of a planning headache over the centrepiece Olympic stadium.
The West Side stadium plan is "very much in doubt" after a competing bid was made for the site by the Hudson river three weeks ago and there is currently no back-up plan. The stadium plans do look nice though and involve an outside warm-up track floating on the Hudson.
