The five finalists were announced for the Olympic Atheletes Village at Hunters Point on the East River in Queens, at a site opposite the United Nations and Midtown Manhattan. The competition was organized as a competition of ideas, no specific programmatic requirements were given to the finalists.

New York City is preparing a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games (against London and Paris, among others), although there are plans to go ahead with a development on the site despite the results of the bidding process. The 2012 Summer Olympics Games are expected to be awarded in 2005.

Henning Larsens Tegnestue A/S propose a village with five themed areas: Pier City, Olympic Valley, Water City, Olympic Forest and Olympus, an area marked by five towers.

MVRDV proposes "The Village on the Beach," creating a dense neighborhood of towers with different programs and appearances against a wide East River beach facing Manhattan.

Morphosis proposes a large urban park with towers and continuous low structures that define spaces.

Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects propose "NEW PARK," a village that compines parkland, transportation and housing needs.

Zaha Hadid Architects propose a series of towers on an undulating landscape that hides underground parking decks.

UPDATE: On May 26, 2004 the NYC 2012 announced the Morphosis design as the competition winner. The International Olympic Committee is expected to select a city in 2005 to host the games, should New York lose it is unclear what (if anything) will be built on the site.