New York, NY – City Runners Prepare For Iconic Marathon; Bloomberg Says It Should Be A Two Day Event

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    New York, NY – As Nearly 50,000 people will lace up for the New York City Marathon this Sunday, Mayor Bloomberg says the New York City Marathon is so nice, they might just run it twice.

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    Hizzoner said Friday the city would consider a proposal by event organizers to run the largest race in the world twice – once on a Saturday, once on a Sunday.

    “The answer is you shouldn’t just say no,” the mayor said on his weekly radio show.

    “You should think about it and talk about it. And as [First Deputy Mayor\] Patty Harris always tells me, there’s no bad ideas.”

    The Daily News first reported Wednesday that race officials are considering spreading the race – which is being held Sunday – over two days.

    More than 47,000 people are expected to run this year, up from last year’s previous high of 45,350.

    Bloomberg raved about the marathon’s economic impact on the city, saying it is bigger than a World Series game because runners and their families tend to stay in town for several days.

    But he cautioned that some logistical hurdles would have to be cleared before expanding the race.

    “Clearly, Saturday is different than Sunday because a lot more people shop on Saturday so the logistics are much more difficult,” Hizzoner mused.

    “Maybe you do it in a different route or something? I don’t know.”

    That differs from the initial thoughts of race organizers, who said the city would need to shut down traffic along the same 26.2-mile route for both days.

    Additionally, the elite runners from each gender would need to run on the same day to avoid any weather-related advantage, officials said.


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    9 Comments
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    annonymos
    annonymos
    12 years ago

    while they’re thinking about runnibg saturday…. consider changing it to saturday… and give me my sunday free….

    cbdds
    cbdds
    12 years ago

    Although a Saturday closure will not affect me personally any closure like this negatively affects life for New Yorker in exchange for some benefits to tourism. No city in the world does so much to enhance tourism while harming those that live here. Closures disrupt everyday life, commerce and the ability to get things done on weekends. Despite claims otherwise ambulance runs are lengthened due to marathon closures. This can lead to death or worse outcome where the monetary cost to government far exceeds imaginary increases in marathon related tourism.

    A related topic is movie shooting in NYC. These mostly NON-New Yorkers get permits that allow anytime anyplace stopping, even blocking traffic during rush hour. This is for scouting which can never be controlled so the permit is valid 24/7/365. The actual shooting brings thugs that intimidate you from parking a day before and then bring slews of cars and trucks that mostly have out of NYS plates. While it is supposedly beneficial to the NYC economy the out of state plates show me where the money is really going. NYC purports to have statistics but they are assembled by those that want this to continue so they can keep their jobs.

    12 years ago

    I can’t get to work tomorrow, not by car nor by subway (even if I take 3 trains to get from my house to Williamsburg I can’t cross Bedford Avenue.) It’s a nightmare. Can you imagine these people running through Willy on Shabbos? This mayor is seriously insane.

    12 years ago

    We don’t need to see scantily clad women running through our neighborhood on Shabbos.

    RebKlemson
    RebKlemson
    12 years ago

    as if the UN annual mess isnt enough

    hmmmm
    hmmmm
    12 years ago

    If bloomy wants it , he”ll get it! May g d help us !

    12 years ago

    there are many frum runners who won’t be able to run then! So many tzeddakah organizations gain publicity and money through this marathon… all that money will be lost!