A New York Times article portraying London as a brutal, strife-torn dystopia has been condemned as "extraordinarily inaccurate".
The 4,000-word essay by science-fiction writer China Miéville, entitled "Oh London, You Drama Queen", was particularly critical of the Olympic Park.
He pointed out that part of the site was built on the route of a former sewer, observing: "We watch from the route of effluent." The author, who lives in London and is a member of the Socialist Workers Party, says that the park is in danger of turning into a "charnel ground of Ozumandian skeletons", and says the ArcelorMittalOrbit sculpture is like a "snarled Gaian hernia".
But Greg Hands, the New York-born Tory MP for Chelsea and Fulham, said: "As someone who knows both cities very well I find the New York Times piece extraordinarily inaccurate in everything from its portrayal of the police to relations with London's Muslim population to the impact of the Olympics."
Olympic organiser sources pointed out that New York bid against London for the 2012 Games but came second from last in the voting. Shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said: "We bid for the Olympics because we believe London is the greatest city in the world - the most diverse and the most tolerant."
She said the pledge to regenerate east London had already seen 45,000 people benefit through work on the park, with another 10,000 permanent jobs in Westfield Stratford City.
Boris Johnson, also born in New York, said: "There's been plenty of articles in that paper saying exactly the opposite. I'm inclined to believe them."
