Manhattan Boro President Scott Stringer is calling on Mayor Bloomberg to cancel the NYC Marathon scheduled for Sunday morning.
The following is a statement by Stringer, given to YWN on Friday morning:
“First of all, I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo for their strong leadership in helping our City recover from a devastating storm. And I certainly understand and respect the mayor’s desire to show that we are a resilient City.
“But New York has experienced a tragedy of historic proportions. New Yorkers in Staten Island, the Rockaways, Coney Island and Lower Manhattan are struggling to keep body and soul together, deprived of basic essentials as temperatures drop.
“For this reason, and after significant deliberation, I believe we should postpone and re-schedule the New York City Marathon in order to focus all of the City’s resources on the crucial task of helping our neighbors recover from this disaster. New Yorkers deserve nothing less than to know that the entire government is focused solely on returning the City and their region back to normalcy.
“The next several days will test the mettle of our city’s infrastructure, its residents and its government. We will come back stronger than ever – but only then can the marathon be an event that all New Yorkers can celebrate.”
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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One Response
It’s about time someone was courageous enough to speak up.
Yesterday, in the news there was talk that Mayor B planned to keep the marathon on schedule. Someone compared it to the marathon following 9-11,(which incidentally took place several weeks as opposed to days later)which proceeded as scheduled. In that instance there was good reason to show terrorists that they won’t succeed in getting us down. However, in our current situation, if he decides to proceed as scheduled perhaps the Mayor is trying to show G-d the same thing. Remember, this is the same man who is trying to tamper with the centuries old laws of Bris Milah.
In addition, when finances are so tight that many vital services are being cut, and the cost of repair & restoration from the storm are added maybe the marathon is something we can do without & spend our monies and energy in a more sensible & necessary way!!!