Brooklyn Among 3 Finalists For 2016 Democratic National Convention
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Brooklyn is still in the running to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Democrats announced Monday they have narrowed the list of contenders to Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio.
The Democratic National Committee says convention bids from Birmingham, Alabama, and Phoenix have been eliminated.
Brooklyn Among 3 Finalists For 2016 Democratic National Convention
The convention site is where the party will formally nominate its next presidential candidate.
The convention will be held on either the weeks of July 18, July 25 or Aug. 22. The site will be announced in early 2015. If Brooklyn is selected, the Barclays Center would host the event.
The decision is based on several factors, including the city's ability to raise millions of dollars to host the event, along with the potential venues, hotels and transportation options.
Republicans have selected Cleveland for their 2016 convention site.
In August, officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), made their pitch in Brooklyn to more than a dozen members of the DNC's Technical Advisory Group.
As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, Mayor de Blasio celebrated Brooklyn's anointing among the top three contenders, saying the borough has gone from underdog to envy of the world.
Schumer also emphasized the importance of the revival of Brooklyn.
"Brooklyn was down in the dumps, and everyone said Brooklyn's best days are over, and then Brooklyn came roaring back just like America, and that's why Democrats should have their convention in Brooklyn," Schumer said. "We are the comeback borough, and America will be the comeback country."
De Blasio said he is committed to winning.
"Whatever it takes to make this work smoothly for everyone coming to visit and for our fellow New Yorkers, we're going to do it," he said.
The mayor said New York City is committed to raising more than $100 million in private funds. He expects the city would make money. He added that taxpayers should not have to kick in more than $10 million.
De Blasio's administration has tried to quell criticisms that Brooklyn does not have enough hotel rooms for the more than 30,000 expected convention-goers, saying that the hotels in Manhattan are closer to the arena than many of the hotels serving recent convention cities, such as Charlotte, North Carolina, were to their event sites.
New York's bid has been criticized by the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association. Ed Mullins, who heads the group, accused de Blasio of not supporting police.
"The morale of the NYPD is terrible. Cops are being second-guessed across the board," Mullins said in August. "Right now, we don't have a mayor who supports the police. Each and every officer out there today in the city patrolling is second-guessing their own actions. So my question is, is it fair to put the additional burdens on them?"
De Blasio dismissed the comments as "fear-mongering" aimed at benefiting the police unions in labor talks.
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