NYC Marathon (1 Viewer)

[zorro37]

It has been cancelled in the last hour or so after huge pressure on organisers and Bloomberg the NYC mayor who initially said the show had to go on.

Just spoke to my uncle over there. He watched the news this morning, saw Bloomberg state that it was quote "definitely" going ahead, got on a 7 hour flight and 2 hours later finds out it is off. Same goes for many others. Huge problems now.

Apparently and quite understandably those already in hotels are refusing to give up the space to those who were coming over for the marathon as they are either in there because there is no power at their home, or because flights have left them stranded.

Meanwhile, he says there is real animosity between locals and those over for the marathon, to the point where he has seen fist fights in the past few hours in both the hotel and the super market. Authorities now have a difficult situation to handle in which they don't want to be perceived as focusing efforts on helping the tourists over to run, but then again now they are just as stranded as anyone else stuck in the city.

Him, those he went over with, and thousands of others are now hanging around hotel lobbies and walking the streets with no idea where they are going to sleep tonight.

I think they really should have cancelled it early and focused all efforts/water/sanitation/power/law efforts to affected areas and made sure they did so in good time. But to press on saying it was definitely going ahead only to back down about as late as possible due to a social media backlash creates a bit of a crazy situation now in which tens of thousands, many foreign, are now stuck in a city which really didn't need the extra burden. Yet another example of twitter having a real influence on current affairs as well.

Anyone else out there affected or New Yorkers with a first hand view of things? He probably won't get to a phone for the next few days as he frantically tries to get home, and I am interested in how the whole thing plays out as I missed out on the public lottery for registration 6 odd months back so could easily have been in the same position.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Bloomberg is an indescribable moron for not forcing the marathon's cancellation immediately and anyone who was going to New York to participate in a stupid, insignificant race while people literally miles away are picking up the pieces from having their lives shattered is a special kind of egocentric.

You eventually move on. You eventually return to normal life. But not less than a week later. Not when they're still finding bodies. Not when people still don't have places to live. Not when people have lost everything and don't know what they're going to do next.

They can have their pointless race next year. Right now people are dealing with real, significant issues.

This whole thing was a farce and Bloomberg is a clown.

 

[BHM]

Having this event would have been like trying to have a Saints home game one week after everyone was evacuated from the dome. Sometimes I just don't get the mindset of people and how they come up with decisions they make.

 

[Firecross]

Irony at its finest, these were the same people who laughed at us for having Mardigras in feb of 2006 after Katrina. I remember someone from NYC calling us idiots for wanting to party after Katrina and listed off all the problems New Orleans was facing at the time.

I don't want to sound like a you know what, I really feel for people who are going through some tough times, but now you understand and hopefully there will never be another ignorant statement again coming from those people. I remember people I know from NYC criticizing us every chance they got when we got kicked in the nuts by Katrina.

You know, this disaster didn't affect me but I am still disappointed because it seems like nobody learned from Katrina nationally except us locally on the gulf coast. When is the USA going to properly respond the a major disaster correctly? I talked to several friends in NYC, they're all mad at how bad Bloomberg is handling places like Staten Island and how terrible FEMA has responded there.

It is a shame that its been 7 years since Katrina and we're seeing almost the same terrible responses to a disaster in all places, NYC, who woulda ever thought massive blunders would occur on that national stage?

 

[soupcan dan]

well---bloomberg had to compensate somehow for his presidential endorsement.

one outta two aint bad.

 

[NCSaint]

But Goodell gets away with playing a game on Sunday.

 

[tenordas]

Bloomberg wouldn't have cancelled it if not for the New York Post. On the front page, they ran a picture of the 400 generators set up to run the administration tent and signs with the headline, "Abuse of Power". When people all over the city saw this, the feedback was overwhelming and Bloomberg gave in. Freedom of the Press in action.

Some runners griped after the announcement, but a lot of runners had already planned to boycott the race and join protests or relief efforts at the time of the race instead. There was a story on the national news last night citing one hotel owner who was not honoring reservations of marathoners because he had opened the hotel as a refuge to many residents of New York and New Jersey who had lost their homes. Good for him, choosing to help his neighbors over taking money from customers; a pretty brave stance. I'm sure it was aggravating to the tourist runners (and some of them may hold a grudge against him in the future), but they aren't stuck without homes right now.

Holding out initially to have the race was just plain stupid and I'm glad the press acted to prevent him making that mistake.

Critics — including lawmakers — had slammed Bloomberg's earlier decision to hold the marathon as "idiotic," insensitive and a diversion of city resources at a time when New Yorkers have lost power, their homes and their loved ones.

Thousands of runners joined online appeals to boycott the event or volunteer instead on Sunday to help stricken families.

NYC Marathon canceled amid criticism

 

[You]

Donate proceeds to disaster relief and call it the sandrathon.


Lemons into lemonade