New York City and Lake Placid, in the United States, have begun examining how they could jointly host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2042. The exploratory committee held its first full meeting on Monday at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan, bringing together around ninety representatives from government, business, sports organisations and community groups. The aim is to combine a former Olympic host’s mountain venues with a major city’s arenas, transport connections and hotel capacity. This is not yet a formal bid, but an assessment of whether that combination is feasible.
Governor Kathy Hochul has entrusted the work to a group chaired by Ashley Walden, head of the Olympic Regional Development Authority -ORDA-, supported by five workstreams covering operations, finance, legal affairs, community engagement and strategic advice. Over approximately a year, they will examine infrastructure, financial and governance models, and gather public input before presenting recommendations to the state government. “We have the history, we have the venues,” Hochul said. The assessment must establish what else is needed to turn those assets into a joint hosting project.
Existing venues, unresolved connections
Lake Placid hosted the Games in 1932 and 1980 and maintains venues used for international competitions, training and recreation. Whiteface Mountain provides alpine skiing slopes; Mount Van Hoevenberg offers Nordic facilities and the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge track; ski jumps and the Olympic Center complete the complex. The state puts investment in modernising the region’s Olympic infrastructure at more than $750 million. That money has already been invested; it is not a budget for the 2042 Games, which the committee has yet to assess.
The metropolitan area offers further possibilities. State Assembly member Robert Carroll, an advocate of the initiative and a committee member, has identified existing arenas such as Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and UBS Arena as potential venues for ice sports. In an article published in April, he also suggested less conventional settings: big air in a baseball stadium or a cross-country skiing sprint in Central Park. These are ideas to explore, rather than an approved venue plan. His approach would bring winter disciplines into urban settings and use facilities that normally host other sports.
Distance raises questions about how that arrangement would work. New York City and Lake Placid are around 470 kilometres apart by road, with no direct train service to the Adirondack village. Walden acknowledged to ‘Reuters’ on Monday that transport would be one of the biggest challenges and that improvements should also meet needs beyond the Games. Carroll proposes combining rail services to Albany or Saratoga Springs with buses. Reusing venues could reduce sports construction, but would still require solutions for travel times, connections and accommodation close to each competition.
Housing athletes and leaving homes behind
Accommodation offers an opportunity for investment with a lasting purpose. Carroll proposes exploring university partnerships or converting underused New York City office buildings into an athletes’ village that could subsequently become student accommodation or affordable housing. For Lake Placid, he envisages a combination of permanent buildings and temporary structures. No village has yet been designed or financed: these are options put forward by one of the project’s advocates, to be assessed against the needs of athletes, support staff and organisers, alongside conversion costs and future use.
Housing needs in northern New York predate the project. ‘City & State New York’ reported in August on the shortage of homes for residents and ORDA’s suggestion that Olympic accommodation could become affordable apartments for people working in the region. The precedent from 1980 illustrates why the eventual use matters from the outset: that athletes’ village was built with federal funding on the condition that it would later become a prison. The comparison raises a concrete question: what accommodation does the event need, and what housing will the community need once it is over?
What will winter look like in 2042?
Climate adaptation is already part of venue operations. At Mount Van Hoevenberg, snow is stockpiled at the end of winter and covered with woodchips to preserve it through summer, allowing Nordic trails to open earlier. ORDA also uses weather monitoring, drones and pumping systems to adjust snow production to existing coverage. Solar installations help supply Whiteface and Gore, while upgraded refrigeration uses 20% less energy, according to the authority. These measures predate the Olympic proposal and do not constitute a dedicated environmental plan for 2042.
ORDA cites research identifying Lake Placid as one of the former hosts best positioned climatically through the middle of the century. That relative advantage does not guarantee natural snow or remove the need for snowmaking. A study published in 2026 by researchers led by Daniel Scott also highlights greater risks for the Paralympics, traditionally held in March. It examines earlier dates and more sustainable snowmaking as possible adaptations across future Games. The project will need to assess conditions for both events, including water, energy and suitable temperatures; those scientific proposals are not decisions adopted for New York.
The 2042 target does not mean the hosting slot has been reserved. The French Alps will host in 2030 and Utah in 2034, while Switzerland remains in privileged dialogue for 2038, without a final award. New York’s assessment must first establish whether an affordable model for funding, transport, accommodation and operations can be developed alongside community support. Monday’s meeting sets that examination in motion: drawing on Lake Placid’s heritage and the metropolitan area’s resources requires demonstrating that the necessary investments would also serve residents and that the project can meet the winter conditions of its time.
Last related articles
