Controversy Brewing in NYC – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is under fire for moving forward with plans to hold the New York City Marathon this Sunday, in spite of post-Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Staten Island Borough President Jim Molinaro blasted Mayor Bloomberg's decision to divert needed supplies from Staten Island to this Sunday's New York City marathon. The race’s staging area is on Staten Island. “My God. What we have here is terrible, a disaster,” Molinaro said Wednesday. “If they want to race, let them race with themselves. This is no time for a parade. A marathon is a parade. Now is the time to put your shoulder to the wheel. … Do you realize how many police officers you need for a marathon? There are people looting stores on Midland Avenue. There is looting taking place in the homes on the South Shore that were destroyed. That is where we need the police.” Power generators are set up in Central Park at the race finish line between 66th and 72nd street, a sight which has shocked many New Yorkers who are still without power, days after the storm.
PolicyMic pundit Stephen Robert Morse writes, “When I first heard the news that Mayor Bloomberg was planning not to cancel the New York City Marathon, I was completely shocked. When I learned that 40,000 hotel rooms that could be used to house storm victims were allocated for out-of-town runners, I was more than shocked. When I learned that generators would be used for the race and medical staff provided for the runners, as people and thousands of locals businesses are still without power in all of downtown Manhattan, and residents of Staten Island are stuck without shelter, food, and other basic necessities, I was overcome with a disgust that I cannot ever remember feeling. When thousands of police officers are used to block roads (of course, at overtime rates, shattering the economic benefits of the race argument), and the only methods of transportation from outer boroughs are sealed off completely, it is mortifying that a public health hazard is taking a back seat to a recreational event. People will die because they cannot reach hospitals during this race. Mayor Bloomberg, along with his advisers and the sponsors of the race, will have blood on their hands.”
PolicyMic pundit Stephen Robert Morse writes, “When I first heard the news that Mayor Bloomberg was planning not to cancel the New York City Marathon, I was completely shocked. When I learned that 40,000 hotel rooms that could be used to house storm victims were allocated for out-of-town runners, I was more than shocked. When I learned that generators would be used for the race and medical staff provided for the runners, as people and thousands of locals businesses are still without power in all of downtown Manhattan, and residents of Staten Island are stuck without shelter, food, and other basic necessities, I was overcome with a disgust that I cannot ever remember feeling. When thousands of police officers are used to block roads (of course, at overtime rates, shattering the economic benefits of the race argument), and the only methods of transportation from outer boroughs are sealed off completely, it is mortifying that a public health hazard is taking a back seat to a recreational event. People will die because they cannot reach hospitals during this race. Mayor Bloomberg, along with his advisers and the sponsors of the race, will have blood on their hands.”
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NYC Marathon 2012 Why Millennials Must Protest Mayor Bloombergs Decision to Hold the Race
When I first heard the news that Mayor Bloomberg was planning not to cancel the New York City Marathon, I was completely shocked. When I learned that 40,000 hotel rooms that could be used to house storm victims were allocatedfor out-of-town runners, I was more than shocked. When I learned that generators would be used for the race and medical staff provided for the runners, as people and thousands of locals businesses are still without power in all of downtown Manhattan, and residents of Staten Island are stuck without shelter, food, and other basic necessities, I was overcome with a disgust that I cannot ever remember feeling.
When thousands of police officers are used to block roads (of course, at overtime rates, shattering the economic benefits of the race argument), and the only methods of transportation from outer boroughs are sealed off completely, it is mortifying that a public health hazard is taking a back seat to a recreational event. People will die because they cannot reach hospitals during this race. Mayor Bloomberg, along with his advisers and the sponsors of the race, will have blood on their hands.
I fear that Mayor Bloomberg's government has become an authoritarian force that is not acting in the people's best interests. When government steps on the will of the people, in this case to benefit the few at the expense of the many, it is the job of the citizen in a democracy to stand up and do something. So I created a StopTheMarathon page and a petition (for all of you to sign and spread, my dear fellow millennials!) encouraging the mayor to rethink his poor decision.
(Should the mayor proceed, we should form a human chain to prevent the marathon from being run, but that's only a last resort if the mayor and his cronies don't change their decision immediately.)
Supporters of continuing the marathon have cited the philanthropic efforts that are underway to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy. It's quite clear that $500,000 coming from ING (the race's sponsor) and the rebrandingof the marathon as the "Race to Recover" is just corporate social responsibility nonsense which fails to correct a poor decision. ING should cut their losses. But we know why they're doing it: ING, along with real estate developer Jack Rudin, who donated $1.1 million to the recovery efforts in the name of the race, will happily be claiming their tax write-offs for their philanthropy in a couple of months.
I'm not saying that they should cancel the 2012 marathon forever. But this is the the worst week ever to run it. If the city waited a mere two weeks, the event would have greater integrity, be more safe, and be less damaging to the city.
Of course, Michael Bloomberg lives in a bubble. If you were a multi-millionaire mayor of a major city, you would too.
A large part of New York City is still without power. People are lacking food and water and other necessities. It is a stark reality that critical New York City resources will have to be diverted to permit the marathon to be run. In what rational world can we justify benefiting 40,000 individuals as millions suffer? Imagine if instead we put all of the runners to work helping storm victims rebuild their lives.
In 1980, the United States boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia, because we stood up for what we believed in. Would we have held a marathon less than a week after 9/11? Would we have held a marathon less than a week after Hurricane Katrina? Of course, the answers to the above questions are no and no.
New York will always be a tourist hub. Yet it is unthinkable that there are millions of people without power, and thousands of businesses that are currently closed while a small number of people take part in a recreational activity. Citizens must band together to prevent this marathon from being run. We have 48 hours to make our cause known to the world!
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Long-distance swimmer, journalist, and broadcaster
NO to NYC Marathon 2012
The debate has grown more contentious all week long: To run this Sunday's NYC Marathon... or not.
Mayor Bloomberg has so far given his blessing to run the famous race, his reasoning being that the annual upbeat energy of thousands bringing spirit... and of course bringing several million dollars into the city's economy... would be a healing enterprise when New Yorkers sorely need it.
That side of the debate held some credence earlier this week. But now that we are five days into escalating distress -- people without homes, without water, without food, without gas, without electricity, without heat in sub-freezing temperatures -- it is patently absurd to think that running a sporting event that takes police personnel, thousands of volunteers, closing of bridges that are already strained makes any sense.
The idea was originally that the race would be dedicated to all those who lost their lives to the wrath of Sandy.
Running the race would be a deplorable affront to those lost souls, as well as to those suffering in the aftermath of the storm. These people are in crisis. Thousands of athletes, seeking the thrills and individual challenges that are the usual bounty of this spectacular event, should themselves make the collective decision.
You 2012 NYC Marathon entrants, stand up. Make your declaration that you will not run this year. You will instead make contributions, every one of you, to the Red Cross, earmarked for New York City disaster relief.
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from Climate Change is Phony Central:
By Chris O'Shea on November 1, 2012 2:25 PM
Repeat after us: Giant companies aren’t always bad. Especially when they use some of their overflowing money stash’s for the greater good. News Corporation, Viacom, The Walt Disney Company and NBC Universal are doing their part, as they’ve all pledged donations to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
Rupert Murdoch got things going by pledging one million from News Corporation. “Newscorp giving $1million to help families in NY and NJ badly hurt by Sandy,” Murdoch tweeted. “Hope other companies will do same.”
Viacom is donating $1 million, half to the Mayor’s Fund for NYC and half to local organizations that are helping Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester County get back on their feet. Disney is also splitting its $2 million donation; half will go to the Red Cross and the other million to assorted charities.
NBC Universal is taking a slightly different route, as it plans to air a fundraising special Friday night at 8 p.m. Matt Lauer will host the program, which will feature performances by Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Sting.
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AN AP NEWS SERVICE item from the paper that endorsed Obama:
Bloomberg: NYC Marathon will go on
By Jennifer Peltz And Rachel Cohen | The Associated Press
First Published 4 Hours Ago • Updated 1 Hour Ago
NEW YORK • Mayor Michael Bloomberg came under fire Friday for pressing ahead with this weekend’s New York Marathon in a city still reeling from Superstorm Sandy, with some New Yorkers saying that holding the race would be insensitive and tie up police, generators and other resources when many are still suffering.
Joan Wacks, whose Staten Island waterfront condo was swamped with 4 feet of water, predicted authorities will still be recovering bodies when the estimated 40,000 runners from around the world hit the streets for the 26.2-mile race Sunday, and she called the mayor "tone deaf."
"He is clueless without a paddle to the reality of what everyone else is dealing with," she said. "If there are any resources being put toward the marathon, that’s wrong. I’m sorry, that’s wrong."
At a news conference, Bloomberg defended his decision as a way to raise money for the stricken city and boost morale six days after Sandy flooded neighborhoods, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands homes and businesses and killed at least 39 people.
Bloomberg said New York "has to show that we are here and we are going to recover" and "give people something to cheer about in what’s been a very dismal week for a lot of people."
"You have to keep going and doing things," he said, "and you can grieve, you can cry and you can laugh all at the same time. That’s what human beings are good at."
Noting that street lights should be back on in Manhattan by midnight Friday and parts of the transit system are up and running again, he gave assurances that the race would not take away police officers and other resources needed in the recovery.
He also pointed out that his predecessor, Rudolph Giuliani, went ahead with the New York Marathon two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and "it pulled people together."
One of the world’s pre-eminent road races, the New York Marathon generates an estimated $340 million into the city. This time, the marathon’s sponsors and organizers have dubbed it the "Race to Recover" and intend to use the event to raise money for the city to deal with the crisis. New York Road Runners, the race organizer, will donate $1 million and said sponsors have pledged more than $1.5 million.
"It’s hard in these moments to know what’s best to do," NYRR president Mary Wittenberg said. "The city believes this is best to do right now."
The course runs from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on hard-hit Staten Island to Central Park, sending runners through all five boroughs. The course will not be changed, since there was little damage along the route.
Police Commission Raymond Kelly said police officers will not be taken off storm-recovery duty to work the marathon. He said the estimated 2,000 officers on the marathon route come in on their days off, on overtime, while those on storm duty work extended shifts on their regular work days.
"People who are engaged in recovery work and security work, those numbers will remain essentially the same," he said.
Michael Sofronas of Manhattan used to run the marathon and has been a race volunteer for four years, serving as an interpreter for foreign runners. But he said he won’t volunteer this year.
"I’m also really very aghast at the fact that we’ve just gone through the Sandy hurricane and I believe that the people should not be diverted to the marathon. They should focus on the people in need," he said. "It’s all about money, money from everybody. The sponsors, the runners."
A Swede who arrived in New York this week to run in the marathon sided with the mayor.
"It doesn’t feel good, coming to New York," said Maria Eriksson, 27. "But the marathon has been planned for such a long time. And besides, it brings so much money to the city. That should help. What help would it be to cancel?"
Other runners were torn.
Olivia Waldman, who lives on the Upper East Side, said: "I want to be a part of this marathon and I also want to be a part of the hurricane relief. I’m trying to help where I can, and the marathon is going on, so we have to help in making that go forward."
But John Esposito, a Staten Islander helping his elderly parents clean out their flooded home, said: "They brought giant generators to power the marathon tents while we’ve got thousands of people without power. ... How about putting one of these generators here? Have some compassion."
Adam Shanker of Short Hills, N.J., said he moved his family from his dark and cold house to a Manhattan hotel, only to learn they were being kicked out Friday to make room for someone with reservations for the marathon.
"I hate Mayor Bloomberg," he said. "It is absolutely retarded to have a marathon starting, especially in Staten Island, where people just lost everything in the world. And they’re going to have these people run through our streets like celebrating some kind of run, which I think is great, but not now. ... And now people who can’t even get rooms are getting kicked out of the only rooms they have because these people have rooms. And, you know, what is he thinking?"
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