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| New York City Marathon banners adorn an entrance to New York's Central Park, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. Under growing pressure as thousands still shivered from Sandy, the marathon was canceled Friday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg after mounting criticism that this was not the time for a race. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- Under growing pressure with thousands still shivering from Sandy,
the New York City Marathon was canceled Friday by Mayor Michael
Bloomberg after mounting criticism that this was not the time for a
race.
With the death toll in the city at 39
and power not yet fully restored, many New Yorkers had recoiled at the
prospect of police officers being assigned to protect a marathon, storm
victims being evicted from hotels to make way for runners, and big
generators humming along at the finish-line tents in Central Park.
Around
47,500 runners - 30,000 of them from outside New York - had been
expected to take part in the 26.2-mile event Sunday, with more than 1
million spectators usually lining the route. The world's largest
marathon had been scheduled to start in Staten Island, one of the
storm's hardest-hit places.
Bloomberg had
pressed ahead with plans to run the marathon on schedule, but opposition
intensified quickly Friday afternoon from the city comptroller, the
Manhattan borough president and sanitation workers unhappy that they had
volunteered to help storm victims but were assigned to the race
instead.
Finally, about three hours later, the mayor relented.
"We
would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and
so we have decided to cancel it," Bloomberg said in a statement. "We
cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event - even one as
meaningful as this - to distract attention away from all the critically
important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our
city back on track."
City and race officials
considered several alternatives: a modified course, postponement or an
elite runners-only race. But they decided cancellation was the best
option.
Organizers will donate various items
that had been brought in for the race to relief efforts, from food,
blankets and portable toilets to generators already set up on Staten
Island.
The cancellation means there won't be another NYC Marathon until next year.
Bloomberg
called the marathon an "integral part of New York City's life for 40
years" and "an event tens of thousands of New Yorkers participate in and
millions more watch."
He still insisted that
holding the race would not have required diverting resources from the
recovery effort. But he said he understood the level of friction.
"It
is clear it that it has become the source of controversy and division,"
Bloomberg said. "The marathon has always brought our city together and
inspired us with stories of courage and determination.
Bloomberg's
decision came just a day after he appealed to the grit and resiliency
of New Yorkers, saying,
"This city is a city where we have to go on."
The
nationally televised race winds through the city's five boroughs and
has been held annually since 1970, including 2001, about two months
after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Mary Wittenberg, president of the organizing New York Road Runners, said it was the right move to cancel.
"This is what we need to do and the right thing at this time," she said.
"It's
been a week where we worked very closely with the mayor's office and
felt very strongly, both of us together, that on Tuesday it seemed that
the best thing for New York on Sunday would be moving forward. As the
days went on, just today it got to the point where that was no longer
the case."
Wittenberg said she sensed an
animosity toward runners in general as the week wore on. About 10,000
runners were expected to drop out after the storm arrived, she said.
Howard
Wolfson, deputy mayor for government affairs and communications, said
the mayor's office consulted with officials in all levels of government
during the week. There was no one tipping point, he said.
Wolfson
acknowledged that local businesses won't take in all of the $340
million the marathon was estimated to attract. But because many runners
had already traveled to the city, money will still pour in.
Wittenberg said the relief fund announced Thursday had already raised $2.6 million.
Patrick
Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association - the police
department's largest union - called the decision to cancel the marathon
"a wise choice."
As of now, NYRR is sticking
to its policy of no refunds for the runners, but will guarantee entry to
next year's marathon. But Wittenberg said they will review that stance.
Eric
Jones said he was part of a group from the Netherlands that collected
$1.5 million to donate to a children's cancer charity if the runners
competed.
"We understand, but maybe the
decision could have been made earlier, before we traveled this far,"
said Jones, whose group came to New York a day earlier.
Steve Brune, a Manhattan entrepreneur, was set to run his fourth NYC Marathon.
"I'm disappointed, but I can understand why it's more important to use our resources for those who have lost a lot," he said.
Brune said he thinks foreign runners who traveled for the race will be even more disappointed.
"When
you have a significant amount of people voicing real pain and
unhappiness over its running, you have to hear that. You have to take
that into consideration," Wolfson said.
"Something
that is such a celebration of the best of New York can't become
divisive. That is not good for the city now as we try to complete our
recovery effort, and it is not good for the marathon in the long run,"
he said.
Earlier in the day, race preparations seemed under way as normal.
White
tents where the runners would meet were already erected. Plastic crates
lined the park's wall for two blocks, with tangles of electric wires
and other setup equipment where workers buzzed around. A few TV news
crews set up camp.
Along the race route in Queens, a couple of marathon banners hung from street lamps.
"I'm
not a fan of what he's doing," Manhattan resident Michael Folickman
said of Bloomberg's decision. "I think that if the bridge is cleared and
the streets are clear, I don't think it'll wreak any more havoc than
what's already been wreaked."
"And I think it
could be an uplifting experience for the city to have something exciting
like that happen on top of this terrible hurricane," he said.
In
Brooklyn, the effects of the storm were more apparent. One gas station
had a long line of cars extending down the block. Another had dozens of
people standing on the sidewalk, clutching red fuel cans.
In Staten Island, Eddie Kleydman said ruined neighborhoods like his are still waiting for help.
"Look
at this," he said, motioning toward the huge piles of discarded
furniture and household items that line his street. "Who cares about the
marathon? We need garbage trucks, we need FEMA to act quicker. He's
worried about the marathon; I'm worried about getting power.
"So he called it off. He has to come here and help us clean," Kleydman said.
At
the midtown New Yorker Hotel, the lobby was filled with anguished
runners, some crying and others with puffy eyes. In one corner, a group
of Italian runners watched the news with blank looks.
"I
have no words," said Roberto Dell'Olmo, from Vercelli, Italy. Then
later: "I would like that the money I give from the marathon goes to
victims."
Gisela Clausen, of Munich, told her fellow runners about the cancellation as they walked in.
"You
don't understand. We spend a year on this. We don't eat what we want.
We don't drink what we want. And we're on the streets for hours. We live
for this marathon, but we understand," she said.
