Reschedule the NYC Marathon?
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summertime_girl
Posts: 3,945 Member
New York City Marathon Will Go On, Despite Hurricane Sandy And Outraged New Yorkers
New Yorkers expressed outrage this week over Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement that the ING New York City Marathon will go ahead as scheduled Sunday, even as much of the city remains without power and the death toll continues to rise following Hurricane Sandy.
Politicians from hard-hit areas, including state Sen. Liz Krueger and city council members David Greenfield and James Oddo, all called for the race's postponement or cancellation, arguing the city's resources shouldn't be diverted from hurricane relief.
Sen. Krueger -- whose district on the eastern side of Manhattan suffered severe flooding and power outages that forced the evacuation of three hospitals -- described a nightmare situation to The Huffington Post Thursday.
People are trapped on roofs, she said. Disabled people can't get help. ConEd workers can't get through traffic to power lines in need of fixing, and they're running out of gas for their trucks.
"And yet we have a marathon going on sunday," she said, "which in theory will require an enormous amount of police and ambulances."
She suggested that the 8,000 volunteers who signed up to help with the marathon should instead help with hurricane relief. And as for the runners, Krueger sees them as a valuable resource. "We can use them running up 80 flights of buildings," she said, "saving elderly people."
Anna Holmes -- the founder of Jezebel who on Thursday went on a Twitter rant against holding the marathon -- is concerned that city officials will divert resources to cleaning up Central Park, part of the race's route.
Clearing up branches and making sure trees are safe, she said, shouldn't be a priority right now. "The reopening of Central Park is not important when there's so much suffering," she told HuffPost.
"It's an understatement," she added, "to say I'm 'disappointed' that the city is holding the marathon."
Even some runners have called for canceling the event.
“I’m a big fan of the marathon, but this is the most hair-brained, self-serving act of idiocy I’ve even seen,” Gene Ratcliff wrote on the New York Road Runners Facebook page, according to the New York Daily News. “Cancel the race, give the entrants auto-entry for next year, and let law enforcement, EMS, and all the other agencies take care of getting the city up and running.”
Mayor Bloomberg -- who earlier this week argued the race provides valuable economic stimulus -- dismissed criticisms at a press conference Thursday, saying the marathon will not place too heavy a burden the city's police department.
“The city is a city where we have to go on," he said, according to The New York Times.
And Mary Wittenburg, chief executive of the New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon, said, “This isn’t about running. This is about helping the city. We’re dedicating this race to the lives that were lost and helping the city recover. We want to raise money and awareness.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/new-york-city-marathon-outrage-hurricane-sandy_n_2061176.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
New Yorkers expressed outrage this week over Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement that the ING New York City Marathon will go ahead as scheduled Sunday, even as much of the city remains without power and the death toll continues to rise following Hurricane Sandy.
Politicians from hard-hit areas, including state Sen. Liz Krueger and city council members David Greenfield and James Oddo, all called for the race's postponement or cancellation, arguing the city's resources shouldn't be diverted from hurricane relief.
Sen. Krueger -- whose district on the eastern side of Manhattan suffered severe flooding and power outages that forced the evacuation of three hospitals -- described a nightmare situation to The Huffington Post Thursday.
People are trapped on roofs, she said. Disabled people can't get help. ConEd workers can't get through traffic to power lines in need of fixing, and they're running out of gas for their trucks.
"And yet we have a marathon going on sunday," she said, "which in theory will require an enormous amount of police and ambulances."
She suggested that the 8,000 volunteers who signed up to help with the marathon should instead help with hurricane relief. And as for the runners, Krueger sees them as a valuable resource. "We can use them running up 80 flights of buildings," she said, "saving elderly people."
Anna Holmes -- the founder of Jezebel who on Thursday went on a Twitter rant against holding the marathon -- is concerned that city officials will divert resources to cleaning up Central Park, part of the race's route.
Clearing up branches and making sure trees are safe, she said, shouldn't be a priority right now. "The reopening of Central Park is not important when there's so much suffering," she told HuffPost.
"It's an understatement," she added, "to say I'm 'disappointed' that the city is holding the marathon."
Even some runners have called for canceling the event.
“I’m a big fan of the marathon, but this is the most hair-brained, self-serving act of idiocy I’ve even seen,” Gene Ratcliff wrote on the New York Road Runners Facebook page, according to the New York Daily News. “Cancel the race, give the entrants auto-entry for next year, and let law enforcement, EMS, and all the other agencies take care of getting the city up and running.”
Mayor Bloomberg -- who earlier this week argued the race provides valuable economic stimulus -- dismissed criticisms at a press conference Thursday, saying the marathon will not place too heavy a burden the city's police department.
“The city is a city where we have to go on," he said, according to The New York Times.
And Mary Wittenburg, chief executive of the New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon, said, “This isn’t about running. This is about helping the city. We’re dedicating this race to the lives that were lost and helping the city recover. We want to raise money and awareness.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/new-york-city-marathon-outrage-hurricane-sandy_n_2061176.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
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Replies
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I agree. I think it's ridiculous that they're still running the race. I see both sides:
Pro race:
1.) many racers are flying in for the race and can't cancel or reschedule flights without great cost.
2.) the race does bring money into the local economy, something that they just can't turn away right now.
3.) it's one of the 5 big golbal marathons, it takes extensive large scale planning to put on such an event.
4.) it's one of the 5 big global marathons, it takes extensive training to compete in such an event.
Con race:
1.) this will divert the efforts and energies of essential emergency services.
2.) clearing areas and ensuring the safety of the race route will divert the efforts of those people working in more populous areas where there is great need. They should be focusing on clearing streets, not pathways.
This is a mighty small list, but it's more important to get the lights on, the heat on, the fuel flowing, the road debris cleared and make the city overall safer again than it is to put on a show for the world. The most impacted people don't care if you can pick yourself up enough in 5 days to run a marathon, the people most impacted only care that they have light, heat, and warm food (or food in general), and that they are safe.0 -
Living in NYC for 22 years (Washington Heights for 13, Spanish Harlem for 9), this is the craziest thing I've seen in ages. In a time where people are looting, lining up for hours, or days even for a few gallons of gas, people want to run through the city. Unless they plan on leaving some food, or water, or even warm and dry clothes, by all means. But it's going to take waaaaaaaay more than a economic stimuli from this race to put it back together. Yes, the city has to move on....but get the city up and running before it can move on. Being there for 9/11, the city did move on with a somber tone. But it did move on because on area of the city was very affected. Not the WHOLE city. Bloomberg is an idiot on this one.0
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they need to reschedule this race. The city needs to recover and regroup, not try and host thousands more people in what I'm sure is a complete disaster zone.0
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Maybe it's a trick? WHat if the mayor has diverted the marathon so that the runners are running in the direction of the most hard hit areas, where shovels, supplies, and medical gear?0
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Some one is going to get hurt.. If I had been planning on running in this race I would have cancelled my flight. As a tourist you can have no expectation of electricity gas and a multitude of other comforts that you would normally have on this kind of trip. It seems like a rather poorly planned out idea0
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I've posted some opinions about it on the chit chat board...
I think it is insane.
First, EMS, police and fire are working double shifts to get people food, water, safety and treatment. Much like they did on 9/11. They are going to be pulled on the race day to provide security and treatment for runners, taking away from the thousands of New Yorkers in need. Not to mention the debris and power lines on the roads....
Second, there are people trapped in high-rises with no power (elevators) running out of food, water and medicines. Many of these people are elderly and cannot make the 30 floor trip on the stairs to get what they need. People are going to starve or dehydrate and die in their homes if they don't get help. There are people rummaging through dumpsters for food because they can't get to their money, gas or groceries. YET, there are palates of gatorade, water and meals coming in and stacked up for the race participants.
Finally, with thousands of people displaced, where are these runners staying? Many hotels in NYC have taken in displaced residents. Some hotels are kicking people out for the runners when these residents have no home and no where to go. One hotel owner cancelled runner's reservations saying he would not put his neighbors out in the cold. :drinker:
Yes, the marathon brings in money, but how can you host this in the chaos? People are rioting and pulling guns on each other for a gallon of gas. Add 45,000 visitors to the mess and you have a recipe for disaster.0 -
If I were an emergency service worker exhausted from rescuing people from a natural disaster.... I would be really pissed off if I got called to rescue someone that couldn't put off running for a few weeks.0
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Some runners have decided to wear their bibs, head to the starting line in Staten Island, and then volunteer for the relief effort instead of running. I think that's fantastic.
I'm also pretty horrified by the huge generators that are STANDING IDLE that are for marathon. Put them to use!
http://www.facebook.com/BoycottThe2012NycMarathon0 -
From a NYC Paramedic:
I am a NYC 911 paramedic. I have been at work since Saturday and was not able to go home yet since my car was flooded by this storm. I have worked countless of hours this week. I have climbed more than 300 flights of stairs these last few days. Myself and my co workers are exhausted beyond belief, because the people who change shifts with us either lost theirs homes/cars, do not have gas, or any means to get here into manhattan. I have run out of clean uniform, have been showering in cold water because the hospitals are running low on generator power. All the hospitals below 40th street have taxed their resources and running on fumes or have been evacuated. Ambulances are running low on diesel and gas.
To have this marathon this weekend is beyond any energy that myself or that of my coworkers have. All the water and blankets and food that are given to these runners can be better utilized to those who lost everything and
to shelters. I understand that 45,000 people from around the country and the world have come here for this, but I am sorry, NYC is beyond disaster. Just because north of 40th street looks as if nothing happened, downtown looks as if a nuclear bomb went off and only left standing infrastructure. To have this marathon is selfish, and dangerous. Your EMS/Fire/Police personnel are beyond exhausted, mentally and physically.
Thank you,
An exhausted paramedic who just wants her bed (and wants her car back)0 -
From a NYC Paramedic:
I am a NYC 911 paramedic. I have been at work since Saturday and was not able to go home yet since my car was flooded by this storm. I have worked countless of hours this week. I have climbed more than 300 flights of stairs these last few days. Myself and my co workers are exhausted beyond belief, because the people who change shifts with us either lost theirs homes/cars, do not have gas, or any means to get here into manhattan. I have run out of clean uniform, have been showering in cold water because the hospitals are running low on generator power. All the hospitals below 40th street have taxed their resources and running on fumes or have been evacuated. Ambulances are running low on diesel and gas.
To have this marathon this weekend is beyond any energy that myself or that of my coworkers have. All the water and blankets and food that are given to these runners can be better utilized to those who lost everything and
to shelters. I understand that 45,000 people from around the country and the world have come here for this, but I am sorry, NYC is beyond disaster. Just because north of 40th street looks as if nothing happened, downtown looks as if a nuclear bomb went off and only left standing infrastructure. To have this marathon is selfish, and dangerous. Your EMS/Fire/Police personnel are beyond exhausted, mentally and physically.
Thank you,
An exhausted paramedic who just wants her bed (and wants her car back)
This is the reason they should cancel it. Because it's too much strain on emergency personnel. Not because people are suddenly without food or a place to live. There are always people without those things in every city, and if no one cared about them before, why care now?0 -
This is the reason they should cancel it. Because it's too much strain on emergency personnel. Not because people are suddenly without food or a place to live. There are always people without those things in every city, and if no one cared about them before, why care now?
Damn....tell em how you really feel. LOL!0 -
i have not seen 1 person say its a good idea to hold the race. how out of touch are the decision makers in NYC?0
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This is the reason they should cancel it. Because it's too much strain on emergency personnel. Not because people are suddenly without food or a place to live. There are always people without those things in every city, and if no one cared about them before, why care now?
Damn....tell em how you really feel. LOL!
Can't help it. It ticks me off when people are illogical about caring. If they didn't care about the homeless and hungry before, why care now? Is it because they can only relate to these homeless and hungry and consider all the rest to be a bunch of subhuman deadbeats? Because that's why I think people suddenly 'care'. And that's a crappy reason to cancel a run.
Shut up and be Mother Teresa or get your running shoes on, people. The world is filled with misery and suffering. If you weren't giving the hungry and homeless a moment's thought two weeks ago, how dare you do so now?0 -
Race is officially cancelled.0
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so a few hours ago Bloomberg said the race wouldnt interfere with anything. whats his excuse now?0
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My brother just told me it's been cancelled.0
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I do wish it was postponed, instead of canceled.0
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There was just too much pressure against the race. That fact they are NOW cancelling it--after people have already started arriving--shows how intense the criticism became.
Now they have the worst of all worlds---Bloomberg was so obstinate for so long he won't get credit for doing the right thing, and they have criticism from those who paid to get the NY and now can't run to contend with.
Just goes to show--no matter how smart you are or how experienced, you can still get caught up in tunnel-thinking.0 -
It should have been postponed. But I'm sure contracts and such were involved.0
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I love running, and I think the New York Marathon is an incredible testament to what the human body is capable of. However, the fact that Bloomberg waited until two days before the event to cancel/postpone it was just unreal. How could NYC even entertain the possibility of a running heating tents for runners and handing out Gatorade when New Yorkers were still without power, food, water and shelter?
The thing that got me was that hotels, etc. were expected to kick out refugees from the storm to make room for out-of-towners who wanted to run the race. I understand that it's a big event, and that now the runners are out about $200 for the registration fee, but compared to those who lost everything in the storm, $200 is pretty much an inconvenience. Anyone with a shred of humanity in their bodies should understand that there are more important places those resources could go to at the moment than a sport.0 -
I don't think the runners should forfeit their entry fee. I do think the race should be rescheduled for a later date, or the racers could be given entry into 2013.0
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I think I read they are allowed entry into 2013 marathon. ALSO, San Antonio Rock n Roll marathon is admitting NYC marathoners at a reduced cost and donating 20% of that cost to charity for storm victims. I thought that was pretty classy of SatX. So far, there have been quite a few takers!0
This discussion has been closed.