A Democratic Convention bid that’s good for all of NYC – New York Daily News

In submitting New York City’s bid last week to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Mayor Adams has done what his predecessor couldn’t bring himself to do: promote the entire city. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio submitted a bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, but only offered Barclays Center — withholding the most obvious venue: Madison Square Garden. He thereby lost the opportunity to host a convention whose last hosting here in 1992 still reaps benefits for New York. By contrast, Mayor Adams’s bid makes “all major venues available for the convention” but “proposes Madison Square Garden as the primary event site.”

New York City’s hosting of the 1992 Democratic National Convention created Restaurant Week, which offered a $19.92 three-course lunch and has since spread nationally and beyond, as well as the forerunner of Fashion Week, which was called “New York is Fashion” and morphed the following year into “Seventh on Sixth” and subsequently Fashion Week. Both events now take place twice a year in New York City and have together generated billions of dollars in economic activity over 30 years — an impact that continues to grow. New York Fashion Week alone generates an annual economic impact of at least $600 million.

That’s an extraordinary return on investment for the hosting of a one-week convention. That’s why de Blasio’s squandering of the opportunity — to score some political points with his base in Brooklyn — was so short-sighted and why Adams’ bid is so timely, given New York City’s ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the early 1990s, when I was CEO of New York ‘92, the nonprofit entity created to host the convention, New York faced a similar economic downturn, then from a real estate recession. What we discovered, in talking with other New Yorkers, was that if we tried to promote New York City, we got an argument. If we talked about aspects of the city that are intrinsically tied to it — like restaurants, Broadway shows and fashion houses — everyone had a favorite they loved.

We therefore decided not to promote the city but to promote industries tied to its success and to help them address specific needs — like increasing lunch reservations at restaurants in July and creating an event that would gather the fashion houses together at one location to rival Milan and Paris. The events cited above were the result, as well as Broadway on Broadway, a free outdoor concert that continued annually for 20 years.

With its latest bid, New York City is pursuing another great opportunity to lift its spirits, promote its creativity, and advance its economy. And Adams did the right thing by making available all major venues in the city and focusing on Madison Square Garden.

It’s not that Madison Square Garden is better than Barclays Center. In fact, Barclays Center is newer and bigger. But what the Democratic Party looks for is not simply the best arena but the best “delegate experience”: how close are the tens of thousands of required hotel rooms to the arena; how easy is transportation from the hotels to the venue; how nearby are other attractions like restaurants, theaters and museums.

That’s where Midtown Manhattan has such a great advantage. Madison Square Garden, the Javits Center (as supporting space) and tens of thousands of hotel rooms are within walking distance of each other. For the 1992 Convention, the city inserted curb cuts throughout Midtown to enable delegates in wheelchairs to get to the Garden on their own.

Focusing on the Garden doesn’t mean leaving out the rest of the city. Not only have the billions generated by the hosting of the 1992 Convention benefited the entire city and state, but convention-related events and activities took place in all five boroughs.

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Instead of having a single opening reception for delegates as is customary, for instance, we held receptions for individual state delegations in dozens of spectacular locations across the five boroughs. We created a directory of minority and women-owned businesses in all five boroughs that could provide services relevant to the convention. Our staff came from all five boroughs. The entire hosting reflected what then-Mayor David Dinkins called the city’s “gorgeous mosaic.”

The bid that the city has now submitted is just the beginning. It’s essentially a presentation that shows that the city has the available facilities needed — the arena, the hotel rooms, the space for media — and the support of key elected officials, especially the mayor and the governor.

The next steps will be to inject the energy and excitement of New York more fully into the Democratic Party’s calculation. That will come when site visits to the finalists (sure to include New York) take place prior to a final decision, which is expected later this year.

New York City has three great advantages: its Midtown facilities (along with three major airports nearby), its star-power and creativity, and its place in a solidly Democratic state.

The last of those can also be a disadvantage: New York is not a swing state or even in a contested region. And politics plays a major role in the final selection. At the same time, the Democratic Party could well want a site that would please progressives and whose elected officials — especially Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul — reflect the diversity that the party prizes.

The political calculations are beyond New York’s control, but the appeal of New York City’s offering is not. Mayor Adams has wisely started by submitting a bid that promotes the entire city.

Miller, a communications consultant based in New York City, was CEO of New York ‘92.