Singapore ? Backed by a walking, talking Statue of Liberty, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered a feisty Fourth of July pep talk Monday on behalf of his city’s Olympic bid – saying an 11th-hour change in stadium plans was evidence of pluck and adaptability.

“New Yorkers have shown that when they get knocked down, they get back up,” Bloomberg said. “We didn’t drop out, we didn’t cry about it.”

He was referring to a state panel’s rejection, in early June, of a plan for an expensive new stadium in Manhattan. Bid officials swiftly devised a new plan for a less costly stadium in the less fashionable borough of Queens.

New York is widely considered to be trailing Paris and London in the heated race for the 2012 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will chose among five contenders – including Madrid and Moscow – on Wednesday.

America’s Independence Day marked the first full day of lobbying in Singapore by Bloomberg,.

Bloomberg said he hoped to convince undecided IOC delegates that a New York-based Summer Games would be an economic boost for the Olympic movement and international sports federations.

“America is the biggest sports market in the world – it’s a market that they have to approach,” he said.

He also emphasized New York’s ethnic diversity, saying, “We have our own Olympic Village every day in New York.”

Among the athletes sharing the podium were Jackie Joyner-Kersee, winner of three gold medals in track and field, and Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, a five-time gold medal winner whose affection for New York stems in part from his presence in the city during the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton joined the New York delegation on Tuesday. The former first lady was put to work immediately – even before her first bite of breakfast after a long flight. She was led over to meet an IOC member.

“New York City exemplifies Olympic values every single day,” she said. “Living in New York is like living in an Olympic Village – you have every language from every corner of the globe.”

U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said New York’s economic clout would provide a financial boost to the international Olympic movement even though the city – unlike its four rival bidders – was not the national capital.

“I just learned something,” Bloomberg quipped. “I always thought New York was the capital of the country.”