NEW YORK -- The show was supposed to go on. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a midday press conference Friday that the ING New York City Marathon would lift New Yorkers' spirits following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, much like it did after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
But the anti-marathon backlash rose Friday as the death toll in New York reached 41, the city's the transit system remained crippled and the storm's economic damage was estimated at $50 billion. The marathon's starting line was to have been on hard-hit Staten Island, where homes and lives were lost this week.
Politicians were objecting, race participants decided to protest instead instead of run, and a Facebook group in favor of canceling the race quickly gained 50,000 members -- about the number of runners registered for the marathon.
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