City must watch out for fool's gold in its Olympics bid.

The race to bring the 2012 Olympics to New York City is on. We face. some stiff competition, but I'd say there's a better than even chance that New York can win it.

The question is, at what cost?

Don't get me wrong. I am very much in favor of our city hosting the Olympics. I think that, if it is planned carefully and wisely, it would be a wonderful boon for us.

If, I repeat, it is planned carefully and wisely.

Daniel Doctoroff, the investment banker who is heading the committee to bring the Olympics here, is certainly making an effort to combat the many obstacles - from housing to transportation to availability of appropriate sporting venues - that the city presents. By and large, his committee's initial efforts show a great deal of forethought.

But there's one aspect of their plan which I think needs to be seriously reconsidered - namely the construction of a new stadium on the west side of mid-Manhattan.

The area in question essentially corresponds with the current West Side rail yards and is part of a larger area of land which is underdeveloped and highly sought-after by both commercial and residential developers.

Of course, this is not the first time a stadium has been proposed for this space. Mayor Giuliani has long wanted to build a stadium here, for either the Yankees or the Jets, and the Committee's recommendation of a stadium on this location indicates that the Mayor's office has had a hand in the decision. And this is what I find disturbing -- that, in order to secure the approval of the mayor, a plan has been suggested which might be beneficial for the Olympics but is disastrous for New York City.

The negatives of building a stadium on the west side are numerous. Setting aside the substantial expense -- which, if we pay more attention to history than to the promises of politicians, will be paid for mostly by public rather than by private monies -- there's the basic question of access. The area is tremendously underserved by mass transportation. While this would be useful during the few weeks the Olympics were in town, it is questionable whether the subway would be much used by fans of the Yankees or, particularly, the Jets, a large percentage of whose fans would arrive by automobile.

Which brings up not only the problem of parking but more importantly of traffic congestion. The West Side Highway is already incapable of handling current volumes of traffic. What would happen when thousands more vehicles suddenly were added to the mix?

This would lower the quality of life for neighborhood residents (there are some) and make the area much less attractive to businesses. And with our worsening space crunch, we cannot afford this.

It would also hamper the much-needed expansion of the Javits Center, which this column has championed before. Tourism is a vital component of our City's economy, and the lack of a first class convention center hurts us greatly. Talk of reaching some sort of compromise in which the stadium would include a convention center expansion misses the point. Such a compromise would either limit the availability of the space when games were scheduled or would require convention-goers to maneuver through the massive crowds coming to the sporting event. Neither situation would be attractive to potential convention planners, who would once again shrug, realize that New York City just doesn't understand their needs, and choose Houston or Chicago instead.

The truth is that this stretch of land -- including not just the area designated for the stadium -- is in need of a coordinated development plan.

It's time that the City Planning Commission, perhaps in partnership with the Olympics 2012 committee and a group such as the Regional Plan Association, created a committee of business, labor and community leaders to craft a sensible, long-term plan for the Mid-West Side.

The decisions that are made regarding this section of our city will have consequences for many years to come. Although bringing the Olympics to New York is a laudable goal, we need to keep our sights set on what is best for the City beyond 2012.