Mayor Michael Bloomberg and organizers of New York City Marathon cancelled the race Friday amid growing concerns that holding the event would divert resources from cleanup efforts in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
Mr. Bloomberg had said as recently as early
Friday afternoon that the marathon, scheduled to start Sunday morning, would go on and serve as a demonstration that the city was recovering from the storm and moving forward.
"We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it," Mr. Bloomberg and the organizers said in a joint news release. "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."
Someone called Bloomberg
Reply With Quote