FIFA World Cup 2018 to be held in 11 cities: Russian chief

Moscow: Eleven Russian cities will host the 2018 World Cup, head of the local organising committee (LOC) Vitaly Mutko said on Friday following FIFA's executive board meeting in Zurich.

"FIFA has made a decision to use 12 stadiums in 11 cities," Russian Sports Minister Mutko told reporters without naming the two cities who did not make the list.

Thirteen Russian cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Saransk, Volgograd, Krasnodar, Rostov, Sochi and Yekaterinburg - had been competing for the right to stage the matches.
FIFA World Cup 2018 to be held in 11 cities: Russian chief
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Local media reported that Saransk and Yaroslavl had been dropped. Mutko said earlier this month that Saransk, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad and Rostov were the most under threat.

"The official decision is to have 11 host cities, which will be announced live on national television on Saturday evening," a LOC spokesman said.

"Until then, anything else is pure speculation."

Moscow will have two venues - the 90,000-seat Luzhniki stadium which will stage the final - and another to be chosen from two 45,000-seat arenas that are being built by the Spartak and Dynamo clubs.

Russia beat England and joint bids from Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands in December 2010 to win the right to stage the tournament.

World city in a garden

I visited Singapore recently to attend the World Cities Summit, a biennial event that aims to present the best directions urbanism has taken in key cities worldwide. It aims to highlight these great cities as models for how we should shape our metropolises for tomorrow.

Today, the world, the Philippines included, is more urban than rural. By 2050, 70 percent or more of the people on this planet will be living in cities. The world’s population is also expanding, and the challenge is how to accommodate more people into more sustainable cities; marshalling and managing natural and social resources to ensure a quality of life that should only get better.

Of course, a key model city is Singapore itself. It seems the city, which was my second home for 12 years, can’t get any better. But despite an increase of close to a million people since I lived there in the ’90s, the city, or city-state to be precise, has lived up to its billing as the best place to live in Southeast Asia.

One of the key ingredients of this liveability is the fact that the city has one of the most extensive parks and open space systems in the world. Singapore is a city in a garden, not just a garden city, which was the original goal in its earlier decades under Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee and the rest of Singapore’s leaders understood, decades before the rest of the world, that being green was one sure way to keep urban problems at bay.
The Flower Dome conservatory is cooled down to support temperate flowering displays.

This year, the city launched its most ambitious green development, its Gardens by the Bay. We glimpsed the lush new park as our shuttle approached the city center and our hotel and convention site — the Marina Bay Sands. I had taken the family to take advantage of the trip and the opportunity to stay at the iconic venue. The view from its 57th floor’s 150-meter-long infinity-edge pool alone was worth the trip. We took a dip every day of our stay.

Our room faced the new park and we strolled over early the first morning before the summit. The 100-hectare Gardens by the Bay accents the city’s new inner harbour, an extension of the city’s original central core. It is twice the size of our Rizal Park and serves to bring people close to nature in the middle of the city.

The park, actually three connected parks, is a product of an international competition won by the landscape architectural firms of Gustafson Porter and Grant Associates. The three main features now open in the Bay South Garden section are the super trees and the two conservatories. The super trees are a cluster of 25-50-meter-tall armatures on which verdant and colorful tropical plant life is now thriving. The “trees” also harvest rain water and produce energy. They are also linked with sky bridges for touring.

We also toured the two fantastic conservatories — the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. Each conservatory is cooled to recreate cool-dry and cool-moist habitats respectively for plant life not found in Singapore. The conservatories are an amazing way to show visitors plant life, from tropical mountains to the sub-tropical coasts of the Mediterranean and the temperate regions of the globe. Of course, the rest of the park has themed gardens highlighting the tropical plants and flowers of Singapore and the region.

The summit itself was held at the Marina Bay Sands expansive convention and exhibition center. The three-day event covered presentations on the theme “Liveable and Sustainable Cities — Integrated Urban Solutions.” It was the third edition of the event launched in 2008 and each staging gets bigger in size and scope, proving that the topic is gaining more and more relevance globally. Over a hundred city mayors and top government officials and thousands of participants from all over the world attended.

The summit was coorganized by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Center for Livable Cities (CLC). Summit participants like me, along with youthful mayors Herbert Bautista of QC and John Rey Tiangco of Navotas, had the chance to visit the URA headquarters to get a briefing on how urban planning and rational physical development helped Singapore achieve its goals. I love that they know where every building, infrastructure and utility line is in Singapore. In Philippine cities, one has to guess all the time as our maps and “as-built” plans are all inaccurate or non-existent.

I went dizzy trying to attend all the presentations I wanted, as the event was an embarrassment of riches in terms of plenary and break-out sessions. Bundled with the event were two other related confabs — Singapore International Water Week and the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. This was apart from the annual World Cities Summit Mayors Forum, which of course was limited to government officials.

The issue of water as a resource for cities was an important one and there were numerous presentations on new technologies for water management, processing and distribution (many from firms based in Singapore). I even got to visit the famed Marina Barrage at the end of the Gardens by the Bay. Housed in a literally-green building (its lawn sweeps up to its roof), the facility controls what is essentially a dam that stores water in the inner harbour. This water is the island’s 15th reservoir and harvests rainwater, storing it for future use. The structure also houses interactive displays for school kids and other visitors to learn about water conservation and sustainability.

A key event in the summit was the awarding of the Lee Kuan Yew City Prize. The prize is a biennial award given to individuals and organizations that contributed to creating “vibrant, livable and sustainable urban communities around the world.” It honors initiatives in creative planning, good governance and innovation in addressing problems faced by today’s cities.

This year, the prize went to New York City for its transformation in the last 30 years from a lost cause to a place that continues to lead in terms of urban governance, planning and urban design. It is also a city that takes its greens seriously and although Mayor Bloomberg was unable to accept the prize, Adrian Benepe, head of the city’s Parks Department, represented him and the Big Apple. I did attend Benepe’s most interesting talk on the city’s renaissance with special emphasis on parks development and maintenance.

Key to New York’s success, Benepe explained, is PPP. Public-private partnerships were, in fact, a recurring theme in a lot of the presentations. This is something we should learn from in terms of what works and what does not in taking this direction for urban development. I spoke to Cheng Hsing Yao, deputy executive director for the Centre for Liveable Cities, co-organizer of the event. Cheng emphasized this plus the importance of integrating urban solutions into the fabric of city governance, economy and social development.

The lesson from the World Cities Summit can be summarized, paraphrasing one of the keynote speakers and melding his message with key messages from others, thus: “Build the most beautiful city you can… plant as many trees as you can… plan as comprehensively as you can… partner with as many groups in society as you can, towards the creation of improved cities… because there is no excuse not to build better places for our people to live, work and play.”

World powers open to more nuclear talks with Iran

 WASHINGTON: World powers decided to lay the groundwork for another round of negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, a senior US official said, but they want a significantly improved offer from the Islamic republic.

Neither the US nor any of its international partners was ready to abandon diplomacy in favor of military or other actions, as Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has advocated.

The new hope for a negotiated end to Iran's decade-long nuclear standoff came Thursday after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with the foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - powers that have sought, over several rounds of talks, to persuade Iran to halt its production of material that could be used in nuclear weapons. All such efforts have failed so far.

The latest stab at a diplomatic compromise collapsed this summer after Iran proposed to stop producing higher-enriched uranium in exchange for a suspension in international sanctions, which Clinton has termed a "nonstarter." The US official said Iran would have to bring a much better offer to the table this time, but stressed that nations were seeing some signs for optimism and that diplomacy remained "far and away the preferred way to deal with this issue."

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's top diplomat, who has been spearheading the international diplomacy with Iran, was instructed to reach out to Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili. Still, no date was set for the possible resumption of the so-called P5+1 talks with Iran, said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to comment publicly about the closed-doors meeting at the United Nations.

After looking for a diplomatic solution there, Clinton met later Thursday with Netanyahu one-on-one for 75 minutes at a New York hotel where she was expected to hear the alternative argument for possible military action. The US official said they agreed that Iran must be prevented from becoming a nuclear power, without going into details.

Their meeting occurred just hours after the Israeli leader warned in an address to the U.N. General Assembly that Iran will have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon by next summer.

Pulling out a red marker while holding a poster depicting a cartoon-like bomb that measured Iran's nuclear progress, Netanyahu drew a "red line" across the second-to-last stage of nuclear development, reminding everyone of his demand for President Barack Obama to declare when the U.S. might attack Iran. Obama has rejected the demand.

It is getting "late, very late" to stop the Iranian nuclear threat, Netanyahu said at the United Nations.

"Red lines don't lead to war; red lines prevent war," he said.

Iran insists its program is solely for peaceful energy and medical research purposes, while the U.S. and many Western and Sunni Arab states see that as a cover for developing nuclear arms. But there is disagreement on how to stop Iran, with Obama insisting there is more time for diplomacy and hard-hitting sanctions while Netanyahu presses for a military response.

That disagreement has spilled over into Obama's bid for re-election, with Republican challenger Mitt Romney accusing the president of being weak on Iran. Romney has promised a more credible threat of military action and closer alignment of U.S. policy with Netanyahu's positions - an argument that resonates with some Jewish and pro-Israel evangelical Christian voters.

Neither presidential candidate, however, advocates clearly for military action.

An attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would surely prompt retaliation. Iran could seek to disrupt fuel supplies from the Persian Gulf, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil flows, or it could support proxies such as Hezbollah to attack Israel or U.S. allies in the Gulf. A worst-case scenario might see the U.S. dragged into another major war in the Muslim world at a time of staggering American debt and continued economic struggles.

Obama and Netanyahu probably will speak by telephone Friday, the White House said, after Clinton's meeting are over. She is doing the bulk of America's diplomatic work at this year's gathering of global leaders in New York, with Obama ruling out any bilateral meetings with presidents or prime ministers so he can spend more time campaigning for re-election.

America's partners also prefer diplomacy.

"We discussed at length the need for Iran to take action urgently," said Ashton, who briefed officials for more than an hour on her recent discussions with the Iranians.

"We were united," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, refusing to comment on Netanyahu's call for red lines.

City lawyer among seven Britons killed in Nepal plane crash

A young City lawyer, two mountaineering friends and a group of outdoor enthusiasts from the north west were among the 19 people killed in yesterday’s plane crash outside Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

The victims all perished when their light aircraft ploughed into a flat river valley shortly after take-off on route for the Mount Everest region. It is believed the pilot was trying to return to the airport after the plane was struck by a bird – possibly a black eagle - as it was taking off.

In total seven Britons died on the flight alongside five Chinese tourists, four Nepalis and three crew members. The youngest British victim was 27 whilst the oldest was 60.

Among those killed in the crash was Ben Ogden, a 27-year-old Oxford graduate and rising star in the “magic circle” law firm Allen and Overy. The city firm released a statement saying they were “deeply shocked and saddened” by the news, describing him as “an excellent lawyer and a very popular member of the firm.”

Stephen Holding, 60, from Barlaston, Staffordshire and Timothy Oakes, 57, from Warrington were also named as among those killed. The two men were experienced trekkers and were often involved in the Bremex Mountaineering and Climbing Club.

As well as Mr Oakes, three more of the victims were from the north west. Among those named last night were Vincent and Darren Kelly from Lostock, Bolton, and 54-year-old Raymond Eagle, a keen marathon runner from Macclesfield.

AIR safety investigators in Nepal are trying to determine the cause of a plane crash, the latest of a number of recent tragedies that caused concern about the Himalayan nation’s air safety record.

In the latest of a series of deadly air crashes in Nepal, the twin propellored Sita Air Dornier 288 aircraft crashed with the loss of everyone onboard as it began its journey to the small town of Lukla – the gateway to the popular trekking region - at around 6.30am on Thursday. Five Chinese tourists, four Nepalis and three members of crew were also aboard the aircraft when it crashed close to the Manohara river, less than a mile from Kathmandu airport from where it had taken off. Locals said they heard screams coming from the wreckage as they waited for the fire brigade to arrive.

In a statement, the British Embassy in Kathmandu said: “We can confirm that there were British national fatalities. The Embassy remains in contact with Nepalese authorities.” It said that Ambassador John Tucknott had gone to the Tribhuvan Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where the bodies of those killed were taken.

Our thoughts are very much with the families of those affected, both in the UK and in Nepal,” the firm’s managing director, Ashley Toft, said in a statement.

Kunda Dixit, editor-in-chief of the Nepali Times, said that while Nepal had a notorious air safety record, this incident appeared to have been caused by a bird-strike.

“Air traffic control told me that this was a bird strike on the left engine shortly after take-off,” he said, adding that the pilot tried to return to the airport and that the plane banked steeply. He said he believed the plane probably then started stalling. “Unlike previous accidents where there has been pilot error, this could have happened anywhere in the world.”

This was later reportedly confirmed by the general manger of the Kathmandu airport, Ratish Chandra Suman, who said the pilot had reported trouble two minutes into the flight. According to the Kathmandu-based Sherpa Adventure Travel Pvt, the British tourists were heading for a two week trek in the Khumbu region. This month marks the start of the most popular trekking season.

Dipendar Shahi, marketing manager for Sita Air, told The Independent that seven British and five Chinese tourists had been on board the flight. He said he had heard that a black eagle may have hit the plane. “The plane took off and straight away it crashed,” said Mr Shahi. “People are now investigating what happened.

Dozens of army personnel and rescue personnel rushed to the scene of the crash though some reports said the fire brigade took more than half-an hour. Local television footage showed shocked crowds gathering as the plane burned. A number of burned bodies were subsequently laid in a line close the smouldering fuselage. Mobile phone video shot by local people reportedly showed the front section of the plane was on fire when it first hit the ground

Tulasha Pokharel, a 26-year-old woman who lives near to the crash site, told the Agence-France-Presse that she was among the first on the scene. “We could hear people inside the aircraft screaming, but we couldn’t throw water at the plane to put out the fire because we were scared that the engines were about to explode,” she said.

Binod Singh, a national police spokesman, said the civil aviation authority had set up an investigation committee and that the flight recorder had been recovered. “The committee will analyse all the records and they will visit the site and gather all the exhibits. Normally they report back after three months,” he said.

Nepal has a poor road network and large numbers of tourists and climbers often opt to use the country’s network of 16 domestic airlines and 49 airports to reach remote areas. But the air safety record is equally bad and local media reported that this was the sixth crash in the last two years in which a total of more than 110 people had lost their lives.

In May, 15 people were killed when a small Agni Air plane taking tourists to a treacherous high-altitude airport near Nepal’s Annapurna mountain region ploughed into the ground. In September last year, a small plane taking tourists on a sightseeing trip around Everest crashed into a hillside, also killing all 19 people on board. The Buddha Air Beechcraft plane, carrying 10 Indians, two Americans, one Japanese citizen and three local passengers, came down in heavy rain and fog at Godavari, about six miles from the capital.

The weather in Kathmandu and surrounding areas was said to have been clear yesterday morning and the Sita flight was among the first to leave the city’s Tribhuvan International Airport. Other flights reported no problems, and the airport operated normally. The airport was subsequently reopened soon afterwards.

World hockey chief expects NHL players in Sochi

 World stock markets rose Friday after Spain announced severe budget cuts meant to show international lenders and investors that the country is taking steps toward getting its debt under control.

The Spanish government on Thursday unveiled a draft budget for 2013 that cuts overall spending by €40 billion ($51 billion). Wall Street spurted higher on the news. Many economists see the cost-cutting as a signal Spain is preparing to request financial aid from other governments and the European Central Bank.

Spain, whose banks have been hobbled by toxic assets, has so far been reluctant to ask for help because stiff conditions will likely be imposed in exchange for any aid.

European stocks rose in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent to 5,797.35. Germany's DAX added 0.5 percent to 7,322.85. France's CAC-40 advanced 0.2 percent to 3,446.37. Wall Street headed for a flat open, with Dow Jones industrial futures nearly unchanged at 13,412 and S&P 500 futures barely budging at 1,441.20.

In Asia, stocks were also helped by speculation that China's central bank will act soon to help the world's No. 2 economy.

Lorraine Tan, director at Standard & Poor's equity research in Singapore, said she believes the Chinese government is likely to introduce incentives to encourage domestic spending rather than making more money available for loans, as the U.S. Federal Reserve has done under its quantitative easing programs.

"Banks are indicating that they are not finding takers for loans," Tan said.

"The Chinese have a lot of flexibility ... the question is, they will only act on it if they think it will achieve something."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent to 20,840.38. South Korea's Kospi added nearly 0.4 percent to 1,996.21 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced slightly to 4,387. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines also rose.

Mainland Chinese shares rose ahead of an extended holiday next week.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.5 percent to 2,086.17 and the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.9 percent to 853.83. Property stocks rose, including industry leader China Vanke, up 2.7 percent.

But Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9 percent to 8,870.16, sinking on a government report that showed industrial production fell a further 1.3 percent in August. Weak global and domestic demand is weighing on manufacturers, particularly electronics makers, who are facing intense competition from South Korean, Taiwanese and other Asian manufacturers.

The strong yen, which erodes overseas earnings and makes Japanese-made products relatively more expensive, is also eating into profits.

Major Japanese exporters got slammed. Toyota Motor Corp. fell 2.4 percent and Honda Motor Co. shed 2.7 percent. Sharp Corp. lost 3 percent.

Rising gold prices helped related shares. Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Co., China's largest gold miner, gained 1.6 percent. Australia's Newcrest Mining Ltd. jumped 3.3 percent.

Benchmark oil for November delivery was up 41 cents to $92.26 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.87 to finish at $91.85 on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2934 from $1.2917 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.59 yen from 77.62 yen.

FIFA shrugs off criticism over World Cup heat

ZURICH: Soccer's governing body FIFA has refuted suggestions that it has put commercial considerations before the health of players in deciding on kickoff times for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Several matches at the competition will be played in the early afternoon in tropical venues such as Natal, Recife and Salvador, as well as the dry and dusty capital Brasilia.

The kickoff times were finalised by FIFA on Thursday. With most of Brazil three hours behind GMT, the afternoon times are favourable for European television viewers who will be able to watch matches in their evening.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, clearly exasperated at constant criticism of the tournament's organisation, said there had been little room for manoeuvre.

He also dismissed talk that Brazil, who will not have to play any early or mid-afternoon games, had been favoured.

"I don't even imagine why and how you could think we are making decisions thinking about the television and not thinking about the health of the players," Valcke told reporters following a question from a Brazilian journalist.

"The first thing we need is a good World Cup and to have a good World Cup we must make sure we have the best of football and to have the best of football, we need the best teams and the best game.

"Every decision we make takes into consideration the health of the players."

Valcke said that part of the problem had been caused by local organisers wanting teams to move around between venues in different parts of the country,

"We have made a decision to play in all Brazil because that was the request of Brazil," he said.

"You have a country which is not a small country, it is a continent, where it can be two degrees and 26 degrees at the same time on the same day.

"Then you have to take these teams around the country because it was also a decision not to play in just in one region of the country but to travel all around the country to give all Brazilians the chance to enjoy Germany, Italy and the other top teams."

BRAZIL LUCKY

Valcke added that, whatever they did, World Cup organisers were criticised.

"The match schedule was wrong, the kickoff times are wrong," he said with an air of frustration.

"We have discussed with our medical department, we have been discussing with our local organising committee and finally also with football specialists and they all agree that these kickoff times, wherever we put them, from south of the country to the north, are still at a time where players can play without any problem."

Valcke, speaking after FIFA's Executive Committee meeting, acknowledged Brazil had been fortunate.

"The match schedule has not been organised just for Brazil to win this World Cup, it is true they are lucky and playing in very good conditions," he said.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said players would adapt. "The history of football has shown that great players can play in all conditions," he said. "In Mexico in 1970 and 1986, we played at high noon, at 2,400 metres and the quality of the game did not suffer.

"You know that in difficult conditions, you can stop the game, you can cool down, and have drinks. You will remember 25 years ago, the referees said it was forbidden to drink water during the matches, and now all that has been changed because we want to take care of the health of the players."

"The actors are the players, we need the players." This week, UEFA boss Michel Platini again called for a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022 because of worries over the heat.

World's Largest Ferris Wheel Coming to Staten Island

The Big Apple is getting another "biggest": the world's tallest Ferris wheel, part of an ambitious plan to draw New Yorkers and tourists alike to the city's so-called "forgotten borough."

The 625-foot-tall, $230 million New York Wheel is to grace a spot in Staten Island overlooking the Statue of Liberty and the downtown Manhattan skyline, offering a singular view as it sweeps higher than other big wheels like the Singapore Flyer, the London Eye and a "High Roller" planned for Las Vegas.

Designed to carry 1,440 passengers at a time, it's expected to draw 4.5 million people a year to a setting that also would include a 100-shop outlet mall and a 200-room hotel.

It will be "an attraction unlike any other in New York City — in fact, it will be, we think, unlike any other on the planet," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said as he unveiled the plans against the backdrop of New York Harbor. While the privately financed project faces various reviews, officials hope to have the wheel turning by the end of 2015.

The wheel would put Staten Island on the map of superlatives in a place where "biggest" is almost an expectation — home to the nation's biggest city population, busiest mass-transit system, even the biggest Applebee's restaurant.

The attraction stands to change the profile of the least populous and most remote of the city's five boroughs, a sometime municipal underdog that has taken insults from New Jersey and was once known for having the world's largest ... landfill.

"It's going to be a real icon. The Ferris wheel will be Staten Island's Eiffel Tower," Sen. Charles Schumer enthused.

As a visible addition to the skyline around the harbor, the wheel "gives Staten Island an identity beyond its role as a suburban community," while letting it tap into the stream of tourist money in a city that drew 50.9 million visitors last year, said Mitchell Moss, a New York University urban policy professor.

The project is expected to bring $500 million in private investment and 1,100 permanent jobs to the borough's St. George waterfront, and the developers will pay the city $2.5 million a year in rent for the land.

Staten Island isn't entirely off the tourist map. Its free ferry is the city's third-largest tourist attraction, carrying an estimated 2 million visitors a year alongside millions of residents, officials say.

But the city has long struggled to entice tourists off the boat and into Staten Island. Much-touted Staten Island sightseeing bus tours fizzled within a year in 2009 for lack of ridership.

Australian tourists Leah Field and Adam Lica, for example, were riding the ferry Thursday for its views of the Statue of Liberty. They thought they might have lunch on the Staten Island side but weren't planning to explore further.

"We weren't sure what there is to do there," explained Lica, 32, of Melbourne. But were there a giant Ferris wheel, the couple likely would go ride it, he said.

But Henriette Repmann, a German university student, said she wouldn't bother.

"You don't have to have the biggest Ferris wheel in the world to get a good view of New York," Repmann, 20, of Leipzig, said Thursday as she visited the Empire State Building.

Largely a bedroom community for other parts of the city, Staten Island boasts about 470,000 residents and a minor league ballpark, cultural sites and quirky attractions, from locations in the video for Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" to the Staten Island Zoo, home to New York's answer to Pennsylvania's prognosticating groundhog. The Staten Island rodent bears the dubious distinction of having once bitten Bloomberg.

But Staten Island, the only one of the city's five boroughs not accessible by subway, tends to get overshadowed by its bigger neighbors, so much so that some have at times suggested it secede from the city.

And residents often bristle at an image shaped by such television shows as "Mob Wives" and "Big Ang" — and by a former New Jersey beach town mayor who portrayed Staten Islanders in a blog post as heavy on hairspray and light on class. (The ex-mayor, Ken Pringle of Belmar, visited Staten Island in 2008 to make amends.)

Resident Miatta Bryant thinks the wheel might bring the borough more respect.

"People always say Staten Island is so boring," the 26-year-old certified nursing assistant said.

The Ferris wheel, state Assemblyman Matthew Titone hopes, will show the world a different Staten Island than the one they see on TV.

"They will see our cultural institutions and will see that we are not idiots," he said. "Shirtless, musclebound idiots."

FERRIS WHEEL FACTS:

— The first Ferris wheel, 264 feet high (80.4 meters), was invented in the U.S. by Pittsburgh engineer George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. Powered by steam engines, it was introduced at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago.

— The proposed New York Wheel on Staten Island is planned to be 625 feet and expected to open by the end of 2015.

— Caesars Entertainment Corp. plans to build a Ferris-style wheel on the Las Vegas Strip. It is planned to stand 550 feet tall and open in late 2013.

— China began construction in 2007 on what was planned to be the world's tallest Ferris wheel, at 680 feet. Officially called the Observation Wheel, it's also referred to as the Beijing Great Wheel or the Great Beijing Wheel. Meant to be open for the 2008 Olympic games, it's still not completed because of design and financing problems.

WORLD'S 10 TALLEST FIXED FERRIS WHEELS:

— Singapore Flyer, 541 feet (165 meters) completed in 2008, in downtown Singapore, was said to cost $240 million. The original spinning direction was reversed on the advice of a group of feng shui masters, ostensibly to revolve wealth back into the financial district.

— Star of Nanchang, 525 feet (160 meters), completed in 2006, in Nanchang, China. Said to cost $7.1 million, it's decorated with 21,300 feet (6,500 meters) of fluorescent lights.

— London Eye, 443 feet (135 meters), inaugurated on Millennium Eve — Dec. 31, 1999 — in London. Because of a safety glitch, the first public ride took place a month later, on Feb. 1, 2000.

— Suzhou Ferris Wheel, 394 feet (120 meters), completed in 2009 in Suzhou, China, was the fourth 120-meter-tall Ferris wheel built in the country.

— Southern Star, 394 feet (120 meters), completed in 2008 in Melbourne, Australia, at a cost of $100 million, was closed after 40 days when cracks appeared, but it remains standing.

— Tianjin Eye, 394 feet (120 meters), completed in 2008. It was built over Yongle Bridge, with cars passing on either side, in Tianjin, China's fifth-largest city.

— Changsha Ferris Wheel, 394 feet (120 meters), completed in 2004 in Changsha, China.

— Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel, 394 feet (120 meters), was the tallest in China when completed in 2003 in Century Amusement Park, in Zhengzhou.

— Sky Dream Fukuoka, 394 feet (120 meters), completed in 2002 in Fukuoka, Japan. The slow pace of 20 minutes per revolution was used as a selling point, providing "maximum kissing time." It closed because of high maintenance costs in September 2009.

— Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel, 369 feet (117 meters), completed in 2001 in Tokyo, named for the patterns in its nighttime lighting.