NYC Marathon-gate: What would you do?

The ING New York City Marathon will go on as planned this Sunday, November 4, despite power outages currently happening in all of downtown New York, and sheer devastation remaining in Staten Island, Coney Island, the Jersey Shore, Breezy Point, Long Island, the Rockaways, and a shit ton of other places in the tri-state area.

Organizers (The New York Road Runners ) have said that this year's marathon is "dedicated to the City of New York, the victims of the hurricane, and their families." And they've adjusted the marathon plans to "ensure our planning doesn't affect any recovery efforts." Sole focus is being put on Marathon Sunday, meaning the opening ceremony and Saturday's NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K have been cancelled. New York Road Runners revised their cancellation policy too, and "established ways for everyone to support the relief effort through charitable donations." 

They've also donated a ton of money. In an interview with The New York Times, Mary Wittenberg, chief executive of New York Road Runners, said they plan to donate "$1 million, or $26.20 for every runner who starts the race, to relief efforts in the city." That won't be the only big donation come race day. The Times piece also revealed sponsors of the race The Rudin Family and ING will donate a combined $1.6 million. And then there's the millions of dollars generated by visiting runners at hotels and restaurants and whatnot. All together, this marathon is quoted at bringing around $340 million to NYC. 

"The city is a city where we have to go on," Mayor Bloomberg said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Bloomberg went on to explain that by Sunday, power would be restored to many areas in New York, allowing city workers and police to focus their efforts on the one-day marathon. George Hirsch, the chairman of the board of New York Road Runners, implied that this will be NBD in the long run. "By Sunday afternoon, there won’t be any controversy," he told the Times. "People will view it as an early step in the city’s recovery." 

Yet I, for one, am disappointed in the decision to keep the event on. Despite the financial benefits marathons bring, and the need to move forward with some form of normalcy, the whole thing just sort of seems... fucked up. New York is in a state of emergency. There's so many people out there still without power. So many people without homes. Begging for help. Desperate for resources. And considering there are generators and tents and food trucks being set up already for this fucking marathon, I can't believe this "our planning doesn't affect any recovery efforts" bullshit. 

To get a glimpse of how bad it still is out there, take a look at this segment from NBC's Rock Center last night - a clip that begins, actually, with a statement about Marathon-gate.  

Can you even handle that segment? I want to cry. They're pulling bodies out of the water every day. And we're talking about running a marathon? Surely this could be pushed back a week or two. 

Or heck, even longer. In an open letter to Gothamist, an anonymous runner has outlined the reasons why the marathon should be postponed until Spring 2013. (There's even a corresponding petition to postpone, which as of late Thursday night, had a modest 3,822 signatures.) And he/she has some pretty solid reasons too: 

• Urgent civil services such as police, fire, EMS, ambulances and rescue personnel will be diverted away from areas where they are truly needed and towards the Marathon. With huge areas of Manhattan as well as Queens still without power, all police and fire should be ready to assist in the case of a catastrophic emergency, not pre-occupied with a road race.

• At a time when major arteries such as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Holland Tunnel are still closed, it is unthinkable to close down the Verrazano Bridge and Queensboro Bridge, not to mention huge swaths of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Anyone who has tried to get around the city knows how difficult it has been. Although the race is on a Sunday, crucial services such as ambulances will likely be delayed with no alternative routes, resulting in loss of life.

• In the best of times, the Marathon puts a huge strain on the city’s resources but is worth it as it is a huge positive in so many ways. This year it is unwelcome, unnecessary and a burden.

• The ripple effects will be felt by the City’s neighbors in Long Island and New Jersey, where millions have no power and are dealing with loss of life and significant property. Any additional stressors should be avoided.

• Many residents who lost their homes or their power who are staying in hotels will be kicked out of their hotel rooms in order to make room for out of town runners. Out of town runners will find incredible logistical problems that await them, if they can even find flights that will bring them in to the City as scheduled.

All good points. I also think that we could raise even more money by waiting a few weeks (or months) when our city is in a better place to handle and host said runners. I mean, Hirsch told the Times he expected about 40,000 runners to begin the race -- about a 15 percent drop in what had initially been expected." Think about the money those runners would bring in if they were running. If they were present in our cities hotels and bars and restaurants and whatnot. Hell, think of the thousands of additional dollars Hirsch would be donating to city relief (roughly $157,200 if my calculations are correct) on behalf of those people. That could go a long way. 

And if that weren't enough, consider this harrowing point that appeared in my Twitter feed by Brooklynite Danielle Johnsen last night:

Fuck, right? Reading that just totally knocks me out. How could you not postpone? 

But what do you think? If you were totally in charge, would you push the marathon off, or let it go on as planned? Let me know what you think.