N.Y. Likely Site for ’92 Grammys

New York City is expected to be awarded the 1992 Grammy Awards show for the second consecutive year at a news conference scheduled for 8 a.m. (PDT) today at New York City Hall.

Mike Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, with Mayor David Dinkins at his side, is expected to name Radio City Music Hall as the site for February’s 34th annual ceremony, which is the music industry’s top awards show.

The expected announcement comes after a hard-fought competition between Los Angeles and New York, which has hosted only five of the previous 33 Grammy shows.

At stake, aside from civic pride, is tax revenue and income for the winning city’s shops, hotels and restaurants. New York officials estimate that last year’s show, which was seen by more than 53 million television viewers, brought in as much as $60 million.

To woo the academy, the cities offered a variety of “Grammy Week” events, largely to benefit the Grammy in the Schools and MusicCares programs.

The Burbank-based NARAS was said to be particularly impressed by the aggressive involvement of Dinkins and a host committee headed by American Express Chairman Ed Cooperman and Loew’s Hotels chief Jonathan Tisch.

Among the welcoming gestures the city made was painting the Grammy logo on the ice at the Rockefeller Center rink.

In Los Angeles’ favor, sources said, were better circumstances and lower costs for producing the telecast at the Shrine Auditorium than at Radio City.