No Olympics for Queens in 2012

The International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) has awarded the 2012 Olympics to London, rejecting New York's bid. Unfortunately, that means the planned major improvements to Flushing Meadows Corona Park -- including a rowing center that would have transformed the lakes -- will not happen, except for the new Mets stadium, which remains on track to open in 2009.

The Olympic Village would have been built on the Queens waterfront, and later sold as residential housing. Definitely, housing will be developed at the proposed site in Hunters Point, Long Island City. Skyrocketing condo prices in the neighborhood make that a certainty.