You're ignoring the economic impact on the city (estimated at $350 million) and the $26 million raised for many charities. The former is surely a good part of what induced the Mayor to give the green light to going ahead with the event.
tandfman wrote:... the $26 million raised for many charities. ...is surely a good part of what induced the Mayor to give the green light to going ahead with the event.
Yes, well considering Bloomberg just saved the NYRR $14 million, let's see how much of that they give back to the relief efforts. And I don't mean leftover bagels and oranges from the race.
I see NYRR is now giving $1 million to Sandy relief. That's great, but frankly a pittance compared to what they will take in by having the marathon go on as scheduled.
In fact, I looked at last year's numbers. Even assuming there was no increase in entry revenue(unlikely, since that was realized long before Sandy hit), the 2011 financials(using 2012 entry fees) are telling.
Lottery Entrants US - 4894 x $255 - $1,247,970 Intl - 2210 x $347 - $766,870
Guaranteed Entrants 28412 x $255 - $7,245,060
International Travel Partners(via travel agencies) 19000 x $347 - $6,593,000
Grand Total - $15,852,900(does not include NYRR cut of 7500 charity entries, or additional entry amount for any international "guaranteed entrants")
So, frankly, I'm not impressed by the $1 million donation, considering they stood to lose at least $16 million if the race was cancelled.
Anson Mount wrote:Out of curiosity, if I were to show up at a major NYC Marathon checkpoint and scream, "Too soon, you fu*king as*holes", who would show up to join me?
26mi235 wrote:A lot of small merchants and eateries might not make it through without the additional revenues provided by the race.
The few that are open.
And for those who say the marathon will have no negative impact on the survivors, how about evacuees getting kicked out of hotels to make room for runners?
Here's one hotel that's telling the runners too bad.
guru wrote:I'm not impressed by the $1 million donation . . .
The $1 million is just the beginning. The Rudin family has added $1.1 million to that pot and one of the race's sponsors put up another $500,000. In addition, the NYRR is soliciting donations from their members.
guru wrote:I'm not impressed by the $1 million donation . . .
The $1 million is just the beginning. The Rudin family has added $1.1 million to that pot and one of the race's sponsors put up another $500,000. In addition, the NYRR is soliciting donations from their members.
And for those who say the marathon will have no negative impact on the survivors, how about evacuees getting kicked out of hotels to make room for runners?
Here's one hotel that's telling the runners too bad.
I doubt very seriously that Sandy evacuees will be kicked out of hotel rooms to make room for runners based on previous history of similar events. After Katrina, the Baton Rouge hotels were full of evacuees for most of the football seaon and LSU's opponents all had to fly in on the day of the game. Also, it's being reported on ESPN that the Pittsburgh Steelers will be forced to fly into New York on Sunday morning due to a lack of hotel rooms.
On GMA this morning they showed two massive generators sitting idle in Central Park, presumably waiting to be used Sunday. That's not going to be a popular picture!
jazzcyclist wrote:I doubt very seriously that Sandy evacuees will be kicked out of hotel rooms to make room for runners based on previous history of similar events.
“Those marathon rooms were booked months ago,” said Karen Yam, a desk clerk at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Metropolitan on Lexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan. About 60 to 70 of the property’s 775 rooms will be occupied by people in town for the race, she said. “It’s been very difficult and frustrating to turn people down from downtown and the suburbs.”
jazzcyclist wrote:I doubt very seriously that Sandy evacuees will be kicked out of hotel rooms to make room for runners based on previous history of similar events.
“Those marathon rooms were booked months ago,” said Karen Yam, a desk clerk at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Metropolitan on Lexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan. About 60 to 70 of the property’s 775 rooms will be occupied by people in town for the race, she said. “It’s been very difficult and frustrating to turn people down from downtown and the suburbs.”
Nothing in that article indicates they're evicting evacuees from hotel rooms that they already occuppy.
jazzcyclist wrote:I doubt very seriously that Sandy evacuees will be kicked out of hotel rooms to make room for runners based on previous history of similar events.
“Those marathon rooms were booked months ago,” said Karen Yam, a desk clerk at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Metropolitan on Lexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan. About 60 to 70 of the property’s 775 rooms will be occupied by people in town for the race, she said. “It’s been very difficult and frustrating to turn people down from downtown and the suburbs.”
Nothing in that article indicates they're evicting evacuees from hotel rooms.
At least in the hotel quoted(and I'm sure there are others), they are turning away evacuees due to marathon reservations. No marathon, those rooms would be available for the needy.
Bloomberg deflecting in his press conference today, comparing his decision to allow the marathon to Rudy Giuliani's decision to allow it following 9/11. Of course, the 2001 marathon was almost two months after the terrorist attacks.
guru wrote:At least in the hotel quoted(and I'm sure there are others), they are turning away evacuees due to marathon reservations. No marathon, those rooms would be available for the needy.
IMO, eveicting runners, most of whom have flown in from out of town and would have no place to go until their scheduled return flight leaves, would be just as bad as evicting evacuees. I also noted this excerpt from the article you linked:
Hotels, meanwhile, are already full of employees of firms such as Morgan Stanley and UBS AG who are renting rooms in Manhattan, along with other local residents unable or unwilling to return to homes ravaged by Sandy’s rain, wind and flooding.
It sounds like a lot of evacuees have already been accommodated and the hotels have a first-come-first-serve policy. Perhaps the hotels should have contacted the runners last weekend before they all boarded planes to New York and told them not to come, if evacuees were going to be the #1 priority.
Why did they have to cancel Saturday's 5K...while keeping the 26.2 mile marathon through 5 Boroughs?? I would think the logistics would be a lot less complicated than they are for the marathon!!
Couldn't they have moved it to Sunday, held it either before or after the marathon?? Maybe move the race site so it wouldn't interfere with the marathon? Heck, even hold it INDOORS....at the Armory!! (Be the first results of the 2012-13 indoor "season"!!!)
guru wrote:At least in the hotel quoted(and I'm sure there are others), they are turning away evacuees due to marathon reservations. No marathon, those rooms would be available for the needy.
IMO, eveicting runners, most of whom have flown in from out of town and would have no place to go until their scheduled return flight leaves, would be just as bad as evicting evacuees.
guru wrote:I'm not impressed by the $1 million donation . . .
The $1 million is just the beginning. The Rudin family has added $1.1 million to that pot and one of the race's sponsors put up another $500,000. In addition, the NYRR is soliciting donations from their members.
Anything other than what the NYRR is donating out of the entry fees they've collected is beside the point.
Not really. They are generating this revenue for the relief effort one way or another. The dollars that the NYRR raised from sponsors and will raise from their members represent revenue that the relief funds would not have had if they had simply cancelled the race.
guru wrote:I'm not impressed by the $1 million donation . . .
The $1 million is just the beginning. The Rudin family has added $1.1 million to that pot and one of the race's sponsors put up another $500,000. In addition, the NYRR is soliciting donations from their members.
Anything other than what the NYRR is donating out of the entry fees they've collected is beside the point.
Not really. They are generating this revenue for the relief effort one way or another. The dollars that the NYRR raised from sponsors and will raise from their members represent revenue that the relief funds would not have had if they had simply cancelled the race.
Again, for an organization that is realizing $16 million in income thanks to the mayor's decision to allow the race, $1 million is simply not enough, when so many in the city lost EVERYTHING.
If this were truly about "helping the city", as Wittenberg claims, NYRR would donate ALL entry fees to the relief and recovery efforts. I won't hold my breath...
guru wrote:Again, for an organization that is realizing $16 million in income thanks to the mayor's decision to allow the race, $1 million is simply not enough, when so many in the city lost EVERYTHING.
Do you think the NYRR pockets the whole $16 million? How much money do you think it takes for them to put on this race?
guru, you are looking at one item of revenue, and not at all considering the expense side. Neither you nor I have the slightest idea what the bottom line impact of cancellation would have been on the NYRR. To know that, we'd have to know the terms of all of their contracts (with sponsors, tv, the City, athletes, suppliers, hotels, etc.) as well as the provisions of any applicable insurance policies. I haven't a clue about any of those things and I doubt that you do either.
jazzcyclist wrote:IMO, eveicting runners, most of whom have flown in from out of town and would have no place to go until their scheduled return flight leaves, would be just as bad as evicting evacuees.
Not a problem had the marathon been cancelled.
I suppose if he had cancelled the race last Friday, that would have been early enough to keep most of the runners from boarding planes to New York, but I would imagine that most of them have already checked into their rooms at this point.
guru wrote:Again, for an organization that is realizing $16 million in income thanks to the mayor's decision to allow the race, $1 million is simply not enough, when so many in the city lost EVERYTHING.
Do you think the NYRR pockets the whole $16 million? How much money do you think it takes for them to put on this race?
They have alot more revenue than just the entry fees. I dare say the majority comes from sponsors, media contracts, etc.
And had the race been cancelled, and entries refunded / applied to next year, how much of that $16 million would they have?
guru wrote:They have alot more revenue than just the entry fees. I dare say the majority comes from sponsors, media contracts, etc.
And had the race been cancelled, and entries refunded / applied to next year, how much of that $16 million would they have?
You still haven't provided any concrete figures. It's easy to be generous wth other people's money especially when you haven't seen their bank statements.
If that's true, and the insurance pays for refunding the entrance fees, they're jackasses for not canceling it.
I see it differently since all the runners from all over the world and the local businessmen would have still been shit out of luck. If insurance will cover their bottom line, greed can't possibly be their motivating factor for going ahead with the race. Perhaps they're thinking of all those runners and businesses who don't have insurance to cover their losses.
