Maybe not the best time for the marathon

From the Daily News:

Who needs electricity, when we can watch tens of thousands of runners testing their physical limits on our streets?

That’s how it will be sold to America. And of course, this is nonsense. It is almost always nonsense when we turn sports events into something more important than what they are.

The Marathon is being run, mainly, because it would be a pain in the neck to reschedule, and because it would cost organizers and local businesses a ton of money. Not because this race is of any importance to the people who are huddled in shelters right now, still waiting for some hot water, or sitting homeless after their buildings have burned to the ground.

And definitely not because it is the right thing to do.

“If you saw what I saw in South Beach, Midland Beach and New Dorp Beach this morning, you would know how idiotic it would be to take even one asset away from people in dire need,” wrote Staten Island Councilman James Oddo.

The New York Marathon is a mass event that will tax the city’s strained resources, and should not forge ahead on Sunday. It will be run nonetheless, and likely go ahead without terrible incident. But it will be draining the police presence needed elsewhere and will fill precious hospital beds with relatively wealthy people who are inflicting damage unnecessarily upon themselves. Bellevue Hospital and NYU Langone have been forced to shut down and evacuate patients after the hurricane. The last thing this city needs at the moment is a rash of self-imposed injuries and cardiac complications.

And the marathon will have power while a million people are sitting in darkness!