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New York - Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that she has formed the Lake Placid-New York City Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Exploratory Committee to evaluate hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2042 across New York City and Lake Placid. The committee will assess whether regionally coordinated Winter Games, built around existing venues, sustainability, fiscal responsibility and community engagement, would align with New York State's economic, tourism and infrastructure goals. The group will be chaired by Ashley Walden and include state and local leaders such as Karen Persichilli Keogh and Julie Su, and it will establish subcommittees to focus on community engagement, finance, games operations and legal matters. Officials said the exploratory process is expected to take about one year and is not a firm commitment to submit a formal bid. Officials cited the dual-host model of Milan–Cortina 2026 as a precedent and noted that New York City and Lake Placid are less than 300 miles apart. Lawmakers and others have pointed to existing New York venues such as Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and UBS Arena for indoor ice events, and have pitched Big Air at Citi Field or Yankee Stadium and a cross-country sprint through Central Park. Lake Placid, which previously hosted Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980, could host traditional mountain events while benefiting from New York City's hotels and broader infrastructure. Hochul said, "The time is now to return the Olympic flame back to New York." The next available hosting year would be 2042, with France slated for 2030, Salt Lake City for 2034 and Switzerland in exclusive dialogue for 2038.

Prepared by Emily Rhodes and reviewed by editorial team.