New York Marathon Canceled as City Recovers From Storm

The New York City Marathon was canceled amid growing criticism that holding the race so soon after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the city would drain resources and be an affront to residents recovering from floods.

“We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Road Runners, which organizes the race, said yesterday in a statement. “We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work being done to recover from the storm.”