NYC Marathon: Stupid Media Tent For Even Stupider Race Gets Power Before Thousands Of New Yorkers

UPDATE: Mike Bloomberg Defends Running the Marathon.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of the lucky New Yorkers who currently has electricity — or you’re in a NYC Marathon media tent in Central Park that (as outrageous as it may sound) is getting electricity via-several diesel-powered generators.

If a stupid media tent for an even stupider race getting electricity before the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who currently are without power seems insulting, ridiculous, and flat-out idiotic, that’s because it is.

As it stands, nearly 600,000 New Yorkers are without power. Many of those people aren’t expected to have power restored for up to 10 days. But the sporting press for a stupid foot-race has all the juice they need — and then some.

The New York Post reported this morning that the Marathon’s media
tent is getting fueled by “three diesel-powered generators” that “crank
out 800 kilowatts — enough to power
400 homes in ravaged areas like Staten Island, the Rockaways and
downtown Manhattan.”

In addition to the three generators pumping
electricity into the tent, there is a backup generator on standby —
just in case any of the three fail.

While we hate to be
redundant, this is for a stupid foot-race that only a few thousand people —
across the globe — give even half a shit about. It’s not the Super
Bowl. It’s not the Olympics. It’s a foot-race.

The only thing
more boring than running is watching other people run. And marathon
runners don’t even run fast, they run for distance. Watching a marathon
is like watching a real race in slow motion. 

That said, the media tent at the NYC Marathon is only there so sports
journalists can report to the miniscule audience of marathon enthusiasts
what we all already know: a Kenyan’s probably gonna win, several people
completed the race in wheelchairs, and running is fucking boring.

Because
a state of emergency has been declared in New York, the governor,
mayor, or even president Obama could order the generators used to power
the media tent be used to pump some juice into the homes of New Yorkers
without power.

Bloomberg, however, has said that the race will go
on. Obama’s got Ohio to worry about right now and probably isn’t
concerned that a few jerks were insensitive enough to use generators to
power a media tent in Central Park, and Cuomo has shucked and jived his way out of taking a side on whether the race should go on.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer seems to be one of the few politicians as outraged over the misuse of desperately needed generators as
every New Yorker should be.

Stringer issued the following statement in regards to the Marathon:

“But New York has experienced a tragedy of historic proportions. New
Yorkers in Staten Island, the Rockaways, Coney Island and Lower
Manhattan are struggling to keep body and soul together, deprived of
basic essentials as temperatures drop.

“For this reason, and after significant deliberation, I believe
we should postpone and re-schedule the New York City Marathon in order
to focus all of the City’s resources on the crucial task of helping our
neighbors recover from this disaster. New Yorkers deserve nothing less
than to know that the entire government is focused solely on returning
the City and their region back to normalcy.

“The next several days will test the mettle of our city’s
infrastructure, its residents and its government. We will come back
stronger than ever – but only then can the marathon be an event that all
New Yorkers can celebrate.”

In addition to the generators
getting wasted on a media tent, the race itself will require city
resources — including police, ambulances, etc. — be used to control
the parade route. New York City doesn’t have resources to waste right
now — especially on a stupid race.