In the wake of the devastation of Sandy, everyone is talking about one thing- Bloomberg's decision to have the NYC Marathon continue as scheduled.
Some people think this is heartless. This, is dirty capitalism over humanitarian efforts. This, is ignoring the suffering of the people of NYC and the Tri-State. We should be focusing on getting help to those who are now homeless, the cleanup, food, basic needs. There is a case for whether or not the city is ready to take on hosting an international event so soon.
I get all of that. Truly I do. But there are a few more points to consider before you so harshly judge Bloomberg's decision.
A Sense of Normalcy- To me, this is the greatest argument for having the marathon take place no matter what the condition of the city as a whole. If they can host it AT ALL, they should do it. You think that if they couldn't, Bloomberg would do it anyway? Of course not. He's considered this and is pushing forward. Why? Because New Yorkers want to move forward. Because New Yorkers want to run. Because New Yorkers after this, NEED to push forward in spite of the destruction. Mayor Bloomberg understands this because he is a New Yorker. For crying out loud the guy takes the subway to work most of the time. He knows his city and the best way to lead. To not host the NYC Marathon is to say to the world, "We are too defeated." That's never been the spirit of the city or it's people.
You Underestimate New York- I lived in NYC for 12 years, from 1996-2007. If you have lived in the city for any period of time, you get what it's like and what the vibe is- it's perserverance. You get knocked down, you get back up. It's truly, the place that Sinatra sang about- "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere!". Damn right. No disrespect, but if you've never lived there, not just visited, you don't really get what I'm saying. Not really. You can experience the excitement that is New York as a tourist, but you have to live there to get the vibe I'm talking about. I remember what it was like in the days following 9/11. I worked for CBS at the time, and spent many days not doing my real job, but instead answering emails from people all over the world writing in condolences. And some were also saying that we needed to know who did this, and we have to enact revenge. Meanwhile, we New Yorkers were picking up the pieces, pulling together- doing what needed to be done. I don't have to live in New York now to know, that people are quietly volunteering, helping their neighbors, and doing what needs to be done to move forward. Hosting the NYC Marathon is part of that. It's saying, yes, we will continue. We always do.
Money- Now this is where a lot of people get stuck because, why would we choose making money over people? Well, you need to ask yourself, is that what is really happening here? I'm going to say no. The city lost incredible amounts of revenue after Sandy hit. I have friends who personally lost income because they are not salaried, and friends of friends who lost it all. Businesses lost customers or worse, they lost everything. Wall Street was closed for a day. The bottom line is, the NYC Marathon is an international event. International. That means people participating from all over the world, and the world will be watching. The city needs the revenue to recover from all of this. I get that this shouldn't trump a person's access to water, utlities, a home. All of that. But you have to also concede that money is what makes the city run and they are going to need to pick up the pieces economically. Hosting the marathon accomplishes this in a small way in terms of dollars but also in a huge way. Watch the donations pour in from companies who whether or not they sincerely care, are going to put dollars there to look socially responsible. And those companies will do what companies do to express this sentiment- they will give money. Lots of it. This is a reality of a capitalistic society. I don't always agree with this reality, but in this case I do. At the end of the day, hosting an international event is going to help the people of New York recover. Given it's an international event, postponing is out of the question in my opinion. If Bloomberg says they can host on time, guaranteed New Yorkers are going to work harder than ever to make it happen. And they will make it happen.
I'm not surprised that Bloomberg would insist on pushing forward with hosting the marathon. In fact, I would expect nothing less of the mayor of a city that is truly, the greatest city in the world. Kudos to New York for proving that to the world, time and time again. People seem to be divided on this issue. I know where I stand. What do you think?
ADDENDUM: At about 5pm EST, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the NYC Marathon was cancelled. I guess this was for the best, but it does surprise me given my sentiments above. Let's hope that all the runners already on their way to New York go anyway, and volunteer to help. I still stand by my commentary though.
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ReplyDeleteExactly my thoughts when I heard that some were questioning this decision. To any protests around the money aspect of this - aren't we always holding charity fund-raisers after tragedies to help raise money for those affected? So why, when you already have that fund-raiser scheduled BEFORE the tragedy, would you cancel it afterwards? Many of the runners are already using the fact that they're running to get pledges TO DONATE BACK TO THE CITY. Individuals and corporations alike are using this opportunity to raise BIG MONEY to help the people who are suffering RIGHT NOW. This IS "focusing on getting help to those who are now homeless, the cleanup, food, basic needs."
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that those who protest allowing this run to go on are people who 1) have no common sense, 2) don't (as you mentioned above) understand the spirit of New York and the people who live there, and 3) are simply letting the emotions around this tragedy (as well as some antiquated sense of "what's proper") get in the way of actually helping the people whose lives were turned inside out because of this storm.