Gov. Kathy Hochul said the committee includes an all-star roster of more than 90 experts in a variety of fields — including business, government, sports, and community leadership — that will examine the feasibility of making a joint bid between the Big Apple and Lake Placid for the 2042 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. New York City has never hosted an Olympic Games of any kind, while Lake Placid held the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980.
“New York is an Olympic State. We have the history, we have the venues, and we have a passion for sports that’s second to none,” Hochul said in an Oct. 19 statement. “Today, I’ve assembled a team of the best and the brightest in sports, government, business and community leadership from all corners of the state to ensure we are in the best position possible to build a roadmap to bring the Olympic flame back to New York.”
The Exploratory Committee met for the first time Monday morning at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. The agenda, according to the Governor’s office, included gathering feedback on the Milan Cortina winter games completed earlier this year, as well as prior experiences by New York City and Lake Placid, the Adirondack town roughly 289 miles north of the Big Apple, in hosting major global events.
Arguably, the closest thing New York City had to hosting an Olympics took place this past summer when the FIFA World Cup came to North America. Eight matches, including the World Cup final, took place across the Hudson River in the Meadowlands, but the city made numerous transportation improvements and changes to accommodate the influx of visitors. The Mamdani administration reported in September that the tournament had delivered $2 billion in new economic activity to the Big Apple.
“This summer, New York showed the world that we can not only host a major sporting event, but compete with the best of them,” said Deputy Mayor Julie Su, who is part of the committee’s Leadership Group. “Today’s Olympic exploratory committee launch is about building upon that legacy, identifying new growth opportunities, and making sure working people are at the center of every effort — big or small.”
Hosting all or part of an Olympic Games in New York City would likely deliver an even bigger economic impact, but ahead of the games, the city would likely need to invest heavily in infrastructure and housing improvements. Reuters reported that the Milan Cortina games cost upwards of $3.5 billion; organizers had initially budgeted for just $1.3 billion in investments.
Lake Placid, due to its previous hosting experiences, already has many venues in place to host outdoor winter events such as skiing and luge/bobsled. New York City has numerous arenas already in place, such as Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center, that could host indoor events including figure skating and hockey.
The Governor’s office said the Exploratory Committee would take the next year to consult with local leaders and examine existing infrastructure and operations in New York City and Lake Placid, as well as financial and governing models, and even opportunities for a multi-region Winter Olympics. The committee’s findings will then be presented to state leaders for review, and will likely determine whether New York will formally submit a bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the 2042 Winter Games.
In the meantime, Hochul announced the state would invest $2.5 million to support the construction of “Monument to a Miracle,” the creation of permanent tributes in Lake Placid to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team for the “Miracle on Ice” and gold medal win, and speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds over the outdoor Lake Placid speed skating oval.
The committee members, as announced by the Governor’s office, are as follows:
Leadership Group
- Ashley Walden (Chair), Olympic Regional Development Authority
- Martin Brennan, Office of U.S. Senator Schumer
- Assemblymember Robert Carroll
- Jarred Jones, Office of U.S. Senator Gillibrand
- Deputy Mayor Jackie Kelly, Village of Lake Placid
- Secretary to the Governor Karen Persichilli Keogh, NYS Executive Chamber
- Commissioner Hope Knight, Empire State Development
- Deputy Mayor Julie Su, City of New York
Games Operations Subcommittee
- Marissa Shorenstein (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment
- Andrew Weibrecht (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Mirror Lake Inn
- Jeff Byrne
- Kelly Cheeseman, NY Islanders and UBS Arena
- Claire DelNegro, FIL – International Luge Federation
- Tom Harris, Times Square Alliance
- Jill Lafer, 92NY
- Alex Lasry, FIFA World Cup 2026 NYNJ Host Committee
- Martina Lussi, Grandview Lake Placid
- John Morgan, JFM Sports
- Laura Pegula, Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres
- Jeff Potter, Monument to a Miracle
- Carlo Scissura, New York Building Congress
- Edward Smith, New York Athletic Club
- Craig Weatherup
- Tom Wright, Regional Plan Association
Finance Subcommittee
- Serge Abergel (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Hydro-Quebec Energy Services
- Peter Land (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Media Consultant and New York University
- Cali Brooks, Adirondack Community Foundation
- Greg Carey, Goldman Sachs
- Josh Cohen, NY Mets
- John Collins, NY Islanders
- Sharon Greenberger, YMCA of Greater New York
- David Heidercorn, L Catterton
- Reed Miller, High Peaks Resort
- Bruce Monette Jr., Adirondack Energy Products
- James Patchett, Gilbane Development Company
- Paul Pogge, IMA Financial Group
- Julie Samuels, Tech:NYC
- Rob Speyer, Tishman Speyer
- Blake G. Washington, NYS Division of the Budget
- Supervisor Joe Pete Wilson, Town of Keene
- Ann Wool, United Entertainment Group
Legal Subcommittee
- Anthony Crowell (Subcommittee Co-Chair), New York Law School
- Robert Landau (Subcommittee Co-Chair), NBCUniversal
- Jarrod Bernstein, Morrison Cohen
- James Bilsborrow, Weitz & Luxenberg
- Rick Cotton
- Elizabeth Fine, Liz Fine Advisory LLC
- Adrienne A. Harris, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
- Walter Kane, Cary Kane PLLC
- Bill Kissel, Of Counsel Norfolk Beier
- Randy Levine, New York Yankees
- Alex McKhann, Chelsea Piers Foundation
- Stephanie Pianka, Adirondack Community Foundation
Community Engagement Subcommittee
- Grace Bonilla (Subcommittee Co-Chair), United Way of New York City
- James McKenna (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Uihlein Foundation
- Katie Brennan, Village of Lake Placid
- Victor Calise, Walmart
- John Calvelli, Wildlife Conservation Society
- Adele Connors, Point Positive
- Gary Gertzog, Fanatics
- Dan Kelting, Paul Smith’s College
- Pat Kiernan, Spectrum News NY1
- Tuffy Latour, Bobsled/Skeleton Coach
- Rich Maroko, Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO
- Frankie Miranda, Hispanic Federation
- Manny Pastreich, 32BJ SEIU
- Abby Praetorius, North Country Chamber of Commerce
- Andrew Rigie, New York City Hospitality Alliance
- Elinor Tatum, New York Amsterdam News
- Maria Torres-Springer, Charles H. Revson Foundation
- L. Joy Williams, NAACP New York State Conference
Strategic Advisors Subcommittee
- D. Billy Jones (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Clinton Community College
- Joe Martens (Subcommittee Co-Chair), Olympic Regional Development Authority
- Rebecca Dayton, Olympic Regional Development Authority
- Fred Dixon, NYC Tourism + Conventions
- Commissioner Mike Flynn, NYC Department of Transportation
- Steve Fulop, Partnership for New York City
- Executive Director Kathryn Garcia, Port Authority of NY and NJ
- Andrew Heinrich, Project Rousseau
- James Katz, NYS Executive Chamber
- Andrew Kimball, New York University
- Erik Kulleseid, Open Space Institute
- Kevin Law, Empire State Development
- Ross Levi, NYS Division of Tourism / Empire State Development
- Darcy Norfolk Rowe, Olympic Regional Development Authority
- Emma Pfohman, Association for a Better New York
- Basil Seggos, Foley Hoag
- Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, NYS Department of Transportation
- Tait Wardlaw, Olympic Regional Development Authority
