New York mayor Bill de Blasio has nixed any possibility the Big Apple could bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration decided not to pursue the Games after looking at the pros and cons, and a spokesman on Wednesday confirmed the veracity of the article to AFP.
De Blasio had said he would consider the Olympics but Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for housing and economic development, told the Journal that top officials decided it "doesn't make sense".
While many cities bid for the Games because it brings recognition and boosts tourism, New York already has buckets of fame and last year attracted a record 54 million visitors.
The city has never hosted the Games.
Glen told the Journal that top officials feared an Olympic bid would distract from de Blasio's economic-development agenda and that it could lead to neglect of some parts of the city.
She said the bid had only ever been discussed informally and that the mayor would re-evaluate in four years whether to bid for the Games in 2028 if a US city was being looked for.
The US Olympic Committee put forward New York as America's nominee for the 2012 Summer Games, but London won the bid.
De Blasio took office in January, promising to reduce New York's stark inequalities, build more public housing and increase taxes on the richest to finance universal preschool for four year olds.
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