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Why Are The NY Marathon's Resources Still In Central Park, And Not In Hurricane-Damaged Areas?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 5, 2012
Modified Nov 5, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 5, 2012
Modified Nov 5, 2012
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When the New York Road Runners Club finally announced they would cancel this year's marathon, they declared: "Many of the race’s assets, including blankets, food, port-o-johns, and generators, will be diverted to relief efforts." So what a surprise to see that the generators, food, and blankets are still residing in Central Park. If the photos we first published last week were galling, then the images of these resources still sitting there are sure to do more than raise an eyebrow. The NYRR endured massive criticism last week as they planned to stage the marathon as scheduled—despite bodies still being discovered near their starting line in Staten Island. And now they're back in the headlines.
According to the NY Post, there are more than a dozen generators, "20 heaters, tens of thousands of Mylar 'space' blankets, jackets, 106 crates of apples and peanuts, at least 14 pallets of bottled water and 22 five-gallon jugs of water" still in the park. Why haven't they been distributed to New Yorkers in need? One 61-year-old man in Rockaway requires electricity to breathe via his oxygen tank—he told the tabloid, "Right now all I can do is sit outside my house and pray that they bring us a generator."
One marathon employee said the items had not been transported to devastated areas because of the "impromptu race run by marathon holdovers in the park... 'Once we found out they’d still be running a marathon, we had to call all the towing vendors and tell them they couldn’t come.'"
City Hall, as well as New York Road Runners spokesman, have not yet commented on the delay (though Mayor Bloomberg believes some things were sent to New Jersey "for refurbishment and [to] change trucks and then went elsewhere")... but on a hopeful note, NY1's Roger Clark just tweeted this photo, stating: "First sighting of Marathon Blanket in Coney Island—woman says she got it from the Red Cross."
We've reached out to the NYRR for a comment and some clarity on this, and will update if we hear back.
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hurricane sandy
marathon
new york road runners
ny marathon
nyrr
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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