Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the race must go on, but not all of his possible successors agree.
Echoing sentiment of several City Council members who have called on Sunday’s ING New York City Marathon to be postponed, mayoral candidate Bill Thompson said Thursday that now is not the time to devote resources to the iconic run. Manhattan Borough President, a potential mayoral candidate, took that same view on Friday morning.
“The New York City Marathon is one of our country’s quintessential events, but in the wake of the natural disaster that has struck our city and its residents we need to focus on more important priorities,” Mr. Thompson said in a statement to The Insider. “New Yorkers are suffering. Lives have been lost, homes destroyed, seniors stranded in public housing with no electricity and entire neighborhoods are suffering with scant access to fresh water, food and electricity. While I understand the importance of this event and the fact that it draws people from all over the world to watch and participate, I believe this year’s race needs to be postponed to a later date. Our neighbors are hurting and our city needs to make them its priority.”
Although power is expected to be fully restored to Manhattan on Saturday, Mr. Stringer said in a statement, “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.”
But other mayoral contenders sided with Mr. Bloomberg. In an interview with Reuters, Comptroller John Liu said he was looking forward to the race.
“As a New Yorker, and as a runner in the marathon, I think we’ll be ready,” he said. “As long as the infrastructure and the personnel is available to keep everybody safe, both runners and the general public, then I think the marathon should proceed.”
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio agreed. He told a reporter for NBC on Wednesday that the race was an important source of pride and revenue for the city.
The Insider is still waiting for a response from Council Speaker Christine Quinn.