I didn't think about this initially but apparently people who have no homes and are in some of the hotels will be displaced for the runners coming in. I'm wondering if Bloomberg thought this through. I'd be insanely pissed if I had no home and was again displaced.
fuck each and every one of those out of towners who show up for the marathon.
Yeah, you know they're watching the news to make sure it's still on and what the conditions are. If they still decide to show up and displace people, they deserve random debris thrown in their faces.
Also, they need to call to cancel their hotel rooms NOW, so people aren't displaced AGAIN.
on gma this morning, they showed two giant generators sitting in central park waiting to be used for the race...while people are sleeping in 30 degree apartments on staten island.
Insanely pissed would just about cover my thoughts on it.
Some may cancel but they said there are people from all over the world supposedly coming so I am not sure how that would all work out. (and by this like I wonder if people not from the area/country realize how bad it is and that they would be displacing people)
Post by lovesherheels on Nov 2, 2012 9:12:15 GMT -5
My old boss was really excited about the NYC marathon until everything happened. She deferred her race bib because she just didn't feel right about it. I hope more people do the same. I can't believe they're still trying to have the race.
I can't imagine running it under these circumstances. Not if I were from out of town. On the other hand, I know we are keeping our business meetings in NYC, still flying in, and no one is suggesting corporate America take the hit and quit distracting resources and displacing residents. So I see it both ways.
I don't understand the hate on the runners. The city decided to still hold it, presumably because they want to keep the income from it. How are the runners assholes for following the city's lead on this?
I don't understand the hate on the runners. The city decided to still hold it, presumably because they want to keep the income from it. How are the runners assholes for following the city's lead on this?
Mainly because a lot of the runners will be displacing people who are, at this point, homeless and diverting resources from them, including police and fire personnel who will be required to watch the race course when they should be preventing looting and everything else that happens after storms like this.
I do feel bad for people who flew in from other countries (as far as places like Australia, South Africa, etc) who arrived before the storm. These people don't know anything about the area and they're having a hard time getting back home. They're stuck in these hotels. Based on the interviews I've seen, they seemed more concerned about the east coasters and less so about their race.
However, I have seen plenty of people from the U.S. who are all, "Oh yeah, I'm just going to drive there instead of taking my flight. Can't wait!" Ick.
I get what the mayor is trying to do and I kinda feel bad for him. I do. He's trying to show that NY is tough and of course, there's the appeal of hundreds of millions of dollars to be earned. But is that money even going to go to helping people in other areas? I kept going back and forth on would it be bad, but now I think it's horrible.
I saw the pictures of these giant generators in nyc for the race. Gross. I assume there still might be people missing in Staten Island and isn't that where the race is starting?
Post by melodramatic26 on Nov 2, 2012 9:25:31 GMT -5
agreed Papie. and I dont think people realize that training for this has been months in the making. you pretty uch dedicate your life to running when training for a full.
If the city is saying "please come still" it would be really difficult to ignore that and all the work you"ve put into getting there.
I don't understand the hate on the runners. The city decided to still hold it, presumably because they want to keep the income from it. How are the runners assholes for following the city's lead on this?
Mainly because a lot of the runners will be displacing people who are, at this point, homeless and diverting resources from them, including police and fire personnel who will be required to watch the race course when they should be preventing looting and everything else that happens after storms like this.
But that is the city's decision, and presumably they decided that they WANT those resources allocated there.
I just can't get the image of people dumping bottled water over the head while running when people are running out of water, food, gas, and are still without power.
I do get the money argument. But I think compassion has to come first in this. If it's a runner's dream to run 26 miles, go out and run 26 miles.
If I was New Yorker that was getting kicked out of a hotel room, I would stand in the lobby staring down the runners who are checking into the room I held.
I just can't get the image of people dumping bottled water over the head while running when people are running out of water, food, gas, and are still without power.
I do get the money argument. But I think compassion has to come first in this. If it's a runner's dream to run 26 miles, go out and run 26 miles.
If I was New Yorker that was getting kicked out of a hotel room, I would stand in the lobby staring down the runners who are checking into the room I held.
Yeah, I'm kind of here.
I don't necessarily think they are assholes, and part of me feels it'd be a waste if they decided to hold the marathon and very few went, but I just can't get past this.
agreed Papie. and I dont think people realize that training for this has been months in the making. you pretty uch dedicate your life to running when training for a full.
If the city is saying "please come still" it would be really difficult to ignore that and all the work you"ve put into getting there.
I feel like it's a *very* small amount of people saying, "please come!" I don't think this is like the oil spill in the south where people were saying, "Please come and help our tourism" (Not sure if that's a good example...) This is residents saying, "Hey! We're waiting hours for gas. We're waiting hours to get food. People have nowhere to sleep." I couldn't imagine trying to get on a bus to get my race packet when there are sometimes hundreds of people trying to get on a bus to get things like food.
Yes, training for a marathon takes a lot of time (I do races, too), but it seems pretty insensitive to think, "Well, I've planned this for the last year so oh well". There will always be other races...
I personally wouldn't go. I've had to cancel a marathon for work and it sucked, but it wasn't the end of the world or anything. I got over it. The gracious thing would be for the runners to cancel, let NYC keep the fee, and do a nationwide "virtual" marathon tracked on your personal GPS (in whatever city you live in). NY could still publish results using tracking devices and could still hand out medals. There are solutions.
I'm not saying the race should happen, I don't have a strong opinon about that. But if the race IS happening, then the runners should go.
Why should they go, though, if the know they're pulling resources from citizens who really need them right now? Can't they cancel their hotel rooms and defer their bibs or whatever? Just because it's going on based on the Mayor's decision (but not all of the citizens) doesn't mean people have to show up.
Also, I realize it takes a lot of time out of one's life to train for this, but there are more important things right now.
I can't imagine running it under these circumstances. Not if I were from out of town. On the other hand, I know we are keeping our business meetings in NYC, still flying in, and no one is suggesting corporate America take the hit and quit distracting resources and displacing residents. So I see it both ways.
Unless you're a dignitary, you won't be pulling the police resources for a business trip that the marathon will.
I can't imagine running it under these circumstances. Not if I were from out of town. On the other hand, I know we are keeping our business meetings in NYC, still flying in, and no one is suggesting corporate America take the hit and quit distracting resources and displacing residents. So I see it both ways.
Unless you're a dignitary, you won't be pulling the police resources for a business trip that the marathon will.
No, but we are pulling hotel rooms and transit, and our firm isn't using its generators to help the city. Is it just the police you are worried about?
Then the New Yorkers should be pissed at their Mayor and city administration for going through with this. Anger towards the runners is misplaced anger.
agreed Papie. and I dont think people realize that training for this has been months in the making. you pretty uch dedicate your life to running when training for a full.
If the city is saying "please come still" it would be really difficult to ignore that and all the work you"ve put into getting there.
This pisses me off because it isn't like there isn't another race the following week somewhere else NOT hit by devastation. And do you think marathoners only train for one marathon? They are training constantly.
uh, they probably can't get a place in the marathon next week.
listen, i'm all about pragmatism. i'm not in new york. i can see both sides of this argument. on the one hand, massive cash influx into new york at a time when cash is desperately needed. on the other, displacement/potential redistribution of resources.
so i can't think that anyone arguing on either side is just an asshole with his or her head in the sand.
Post by somersault72 on Nov 2, 2012 10:27:21 GMT -5
I heard on my local news this morning that the Indy marathon is this weekend, and has announced they will accept people who were going to run the NYC marathon. Granted, it's a big difference and I'm sure changing travel plans would suck, but they did offer.
I don't understand the hate on the runners. The city decided to still hold it, presumably because they want to keep the income from it. How are the runners assholes for following the city's lead on this?
Apparently, they also deserve to have shit thrown in their faces.
I bet they didn't give candy to ToTers who didn't wear a costume.