After growing public outcry with hundreds of thousands of storm-ravaged residents still without power and a rising death toll, the New York City Marathon won’t take place this Sunday. “We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it,” Bloomberg said in a joint press release with the New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon.

“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 that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track,” the statement reads.

The cancellation comes just hours after Bloomberg insisted at a news conference the race would go on saying we needed to “give people something to cheer about in a week that's been pretty dismal.” The mayor insisted the marathon wouldn’t divert police or other assets from Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts.

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