By KRISTIN HUCKSHORN
The New York Times

Eighteen sports editors took part in the commissioners' meetings April 21-22 in New York. This is a report from those meetings.

The bid by New York City to hold the 2012 Summer Games is gaining momentum, Daniel Doctoroff, the leader of the NYC bid, said.

Daniel Doctoroff

Doctoroff, the city's deputy mayor in charge of economic development and rebuilding, also said he remains confident state officials will give final approval to construction of a $2.2 billion football stadium on the West Side of Manhattan before the IOC meets July 6 in Singapore to select the host city. Four European capitals, London, Madrid, Moscow and Paris, are competing with New York for the 2012 Games.

The retractable-roof stadium is the linchpin of the NYC2012 plan.

Under Doctoroff's plan, it would hold the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the track and field competition. The New York Jets would pay most of the construction costs with the city and state kicking in a $600 million subsidy. Community groups have lined up on both sides of the issue and at least four groups have filed lawsuits to stop the project. The National Football League has announced it would hold the 2010 Super Bowl at the Stadium but only if the Jets play in it during the 2009 season.

	OTHER REPORTS
	MLB: Bud Selig NHL: Gary Bettman NHLPA: Bob Goodenow NBAPA: Billy Hunter NBA: David Stern NYC 2012: Daniel Doctoroff USOC: Steve Roush NCAA: Miles Brand

Doctoroff continued to insist that the stadium project would not be moved near Shea Stadium on Long Island, a site that is less contentious but also less glamorous. "There is no Plan B," he said. He then led the editors on an impromptu field trip to the roof of the new Associated Press offices that overlooks the proposed West Side site. (Note to editors: AP now boasts a basketball court on its roof.)

Doctoroff, the founder of the NYC2012 bid, has been continent-hopping nonstop to lobby most of the 115 IOC voters who represent 78 countries. Next month, those voters will receive detailed reports on the bids written by the IOC evaluation committee that visited each city earlier this year. But Doctoroff said, "they don't make a decision based on the plan."

Instead, he said, voters will probably select the winning city based on four main factors, including the level of trust felt toward bid leaders, financial and marketing support for individual sports federations and the competition and living conditions for the athletes.

He dismissed the impact of anti-Americanism on the final vote.

"I've never been a believer that foreign policy would play a significant role at all," Doctoroff said.

The voting on July 6 will be conducted by secret ballot. The city with the lowest vote total will be eliminated after each round. For New York to survive to the final round, Doctoroff said, it needs to rank either first, second or third among most voters during the early rounds.

He said he has reiterated to IOC voters that there are unique reasons for a 2012 Games in New York City, chief among them the strong support from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also appointed Doctoroff to the non-elected deputy mayor position. If Bloomberg wins re-election this year he would leave office after 2009.

But while Doctoroff has always refused to say that New York would bid on a 2016 Games, he told the sports editors: "You never say never."

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