A crowd of New York leaders swung sledge hammers at a graffiti-covered wall on Monday to ceremonially begin demolition that will make way for a new convention center on Manhattan's West Side by 2010.
The project will eventually expand the Jacob K. Javits Center, which was built 20 years ago and covers five blocks from 34th to 39th streets near the Hudson River.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki have repeatedly said the current facility is woefully inadequate and causes New York to lose when competing with other cities for conventions, and the millions of dollars in revenue that they bring.
Bloomberg noted that today's Javits Center could fit twice into Chicago's McCormick Place, a sprawling convention center on the city's Lake Shore Drive.
``We've essentially had one hand tied behind our back,'' Bloomberg said. ``These new and expanded facilities will put New York City back in the running in the intense, nonstop competition to host major conventions.''
The $1.7 billion Javits expansion will increase exhibition and meeting space from 790,000 square feet to more than 1.3 million square feet. The plan also calls for a new hotel and loading facility.
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