Several elected officials visited the Intrepid Thursday as they continue to try and gather support for bringing one of NASA's retiring shuttles to Manhattan's West Side.

The Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum plans to build a glass enclosure on the pier at 46th Street to house either Discovery, Atlantis, or Endeavor.

Nineteen other institutions including the Smithsonian are interested in housing one of the spacecrafts.

Governor David Paterson says not only is the Intrepid the perfect place to house a shuttle, but it will also be a big financial boon to the city.

"Uniting it with the shuttle, which is the greatest space achievement in our country would just be a perfect marriage, and it would happen right here in New York City," Paterson said. "It would happen right here in New York City where it would bring in over $100 million of tourism into the area, of profits from tourism, and would yield seven and a half million dollars in taxes for the city."

For more information or to sign the online petition, visit shuttle2nyc.com.