Originally Posted By DDMAN26 <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/ny-mayor-criticized-not-canceling-marathon-172600819--spt.html;_ylt=A2KJ3CVENJRQSmQAVcDQtDMD" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/ny-mayor...VcDQtDMD</a> Look I understand the whole getting back to normalcy thing. But this just seems too soon. You need all the help you can get to help those who are truly in need. And to pull that aside for this seems a little insensitive. Not too mention it seems a little dangerous for the runners. He also mentioned that they ran the marathon after 9/11 but if the marathon is always around that this time a year that's a least two months to get some sort of normalcy together. Now Sunday the Steelers are coming to town to play the Jets. Instead of staying in a hotel, they're arriving the day of the game instead because they felt the people of New York who may need hotel rooms should be taken care of first.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt It is too soon. Am I alone in feeling a little tired of hearing about the impact of superstorm Sandy on Manhattan? Yeah, there's dramatic damage in spots, limited MTA service, and the lower part of the island is still being inconvenienced because of the lack of power, but it seems that other areas of New York City and New Jersey were hit much harder. Maybe I'm wrong, but the reporting of this story strikes me as being a little lopsided. The very fact that they are still able hold the marathon says a lot about how much real damage there is in Manhattan.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox They agree with you, Dr Hans: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/new-york-city-marathon-canceled-hurricane_n_2066652.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...652.html</a> <> New York City Marathon Canceled: City Reverses Decision On Race After Hurricane, Outrage Over Plans Posted: 11/02/2012 5:11 pm EDT Updated: 11/02/2012 5:17 pm EDT Following the outrage incited by the decision to move forward with the New York City Marathon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, organizers announced the 2012 race has been canceled. <>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 You must be getting waaaaay different coverage than we're getting here in NY itself. Relatively little is about Manhattan; much more about the areas of Staten Island (especially) and Queens that got hammered. And NJ too since NJ is in our media market.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 It was a good idea to cancel. Look I know this is a big deal for people, my father ran NY one year, and I understand the time that you put into with training. But priorties have to come first and its was the right thing to do. Besides if you wanted to know who would have won, just pick out the Kenyan in the group.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Good idea to cancel. Staten Island needs to have its law enforcement people working 24/7 on disaster relief, not setting up barricades.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Not only that, but they haven't reopened Central Park yet because there are soooo many trees and they haven't even come close to inspecting them all. Can you imagine a branch cracking off and knocking a marathoner (or spectators) cold?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't decision. I do know that if I was a participant who had spent thousands in airfare and other travel costs to be there I would be pretty damned upset about having spent all that money on absolutely nothing.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "You must be getting waaaaay different coverage than we're getting here in NY itself." Apparently. I'd say half of the national coverage so far has been about lines of people waiting for shuttles into Manhattan, flooded subways in Manhattan, flooded tunnels in and out of Manhattan, power outages in lower Manhattan, how global warming will impact Manhattan, and Manhattan's newest neighborhood SoPo (South of Power). My Facebook newsfeed has been filled with the same stuff all week with very little specifics about what's going on in other parts of the city and NJ.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Well, here all the local networks have had basically their local news teams on all day, all week since Monday. So we get the info on all areas of the city, and the hardest hit areas get the most. It's the old "if it bleeds, it leads" tenet of local news coverage - itself kind of a problem on another level - but I'm sure we're getting a ton more on the non-Manhattan boroughs than you are.
Originally Posted By mawnck I've read today about a lot of Staten Island folks whining about how totally unprepared the government was to help them after the hurricane. Leaving me with the obvious question ... Why weren't THEY prepared for the hurricane? I'll never make a good liberal.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Leaving me with the obvious question ... Why weren't THEY prepared for the hurricane?" Because this storm was unprecedented. That's like asking why wouldn't someone in Nebraska be prepared for a 7.1 magnitude earthquake.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>That's like asking why wouldn't someone in Nebraska be prepared for a 7.1 magnitude earthquake.<< Assuming they had several days notice of said earthquake.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I don't understand. Other than leaving, how do you 'prepare' for such a catastrophe with such short notice?
Originally Posted By utahjosh There are lots of ways to prepare. You can prepare and not run out of water and food. Our church encourages all of us to have: Three-month supply of food that is part of your normal daily diet. Drinking water. Financial reserves. Longer-term supply of basic food items. Medication and first aid supplies. Clothing and bedding. Important documents. Ways to communicate with family following a disaster.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip And if your property burns down or gets flooded, none of that wonderful preparation is going to be worth squat. There is really no way either the city or individuals could adequately prepare for a storm of that magnitude and its aftermath. What I don't understand is the loss of life on Staten Island. Why didn't the people evacuate when told to? All you have to do is look at a map of NYC and you could easily see that Staten Island would more than likely take the brunt of Sandy hitting the city.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <And if your property burns down or gets flooded, none of that wonderful preparation is going to be worth squat.> True...but if it doesn't, and you can't get to a store or turn on the tap, you'll be very very grateful.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Many people did prepare to the extent they could; did exactly what you're supposed to do. But good God, how can you prepare for having your home and everything in it reduced to sticks, rubble, and debris flying away? How can you prepare for this? <a href="http://images.scribblelive.com/2012/11/2/06100cde-0492-4f41-b31a-2986f7646fc3.jpg" target="_blank">http://images.scribblelive.com...6fc3.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Have you ever seen a hurricane, Josh? I don't think that many people who have never been through one can understand the absolute power of it. This was a storm that was the size of Europe. One edge was blowing through Wisconsin while the tail end was hitting Delaware. The storm surge was higher than anything New York had seen before. In nearly 400 years of habitation. Since Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth were alive, there is no record of a storm like this hitting the area. Preparedness helps, but the emergency kit will get pulled out to sea along with everything else in your house. The only natural phenomenon with more destructive potential is a supervolcano or large asteroid. The only preparation is to get the hell out, but that a pretty hard to do when the storm covers thousands of square miles. The issue isn't food here. They have that. The lack of preparedness has to do with the investment in storm preparations that science has been telling us we've needed to do for years because the Atlantic is warming, but the the GOP laughs at because they ignore the evidence that it is happening.
