A parade of baseball All-Stars are set to burn up Midtown basepaths, hours before the annual Mid-Summer Classic.
Major League Baseball, city and Mets officials, in announcing All-Star Game festivities, said the parade will stretch west-to-east along 42nd Street on July 16.
“This is just going to be something wonderful for New York City,” said Mayor Bloomberg, who was joined by Mets third baseman David Wright and former Amazins greats Edgardo Alfonzo, John Franco and Mookie Wilson.
Bloomberg estimated that the game, and accompanying activities, would generate $191 million in local economic activity and draw 176,000 visitors to town.
MLB hopes the game itself draws 30 million viewers on TV.
“That’s the kind of positive media exposure money can’t buy,” Bloomberg said.
In light of last week’s Boston Marathon bombing, the mayor promised stepped up security measures for All-Star Game activities.
“I can’t guarantee with 1000-percent accuracy everyone’s going to be safe,” he said.
But scoring the All-Star Game and next year’s Super Bowl, Bloomberg said, shows that sports officials have faith that New York can pull off big events.
“It’s really a validation New York City has become the sports capital of America,” he said.
The 2013 All-Stars and their families are scheduled to begin their parade at Bryant Park on 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, headed east on an 80,000-square-foot red carpet.
The 1 p.m. parade is set to go past Grand Central Station and end on 42nd between Second and Third Avenues. Parade participants are set to travel in top-down Chevys.
It’ll be a different route than in 2008, when the Mid-Summer Classic was played at Yankee Stadium. That celebration went up Sixth Avenue.
“Baseball is in the blood of New Yorkers. If I had to vote, I’d have the All-Star Game here every year,” Wright said.
“It’s revved up…There’s nothing comparable to playing in an All-Star Game in New York.”
In addition to the game and parade, the All-Star Game FanFest is set for July 12-16 at the Javits Center.
The baseball festival is set to run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all days, except game day on July 16 when it’ll wrap up at 6 p.m.
“Anyone who wants a piece of an All-Star memory should be able to get one,” said MLB executive VP Tim Brosnan said.
“You will have the greatest players in the world parading down 42d Street. It is a spectacular show. It’s free.”
Other All-Star Game events, leading up to July 16 game, include a celebrity softball game on July 14; the All-Star Futures game featuring up-and-coming minor leaguers on July 14; and the All-Star Game workout and Home Run Derby on July 15.
Additional reporting by David K. Li