new york marathon hogging resources?

I've been through several hurricanes, sleeping in a narrow hallway during Gloria in 1985, living in the dorm at Virginia Tech with no working bathrooms (for only 24 hours and it was so gross I drove 300 miles home until the issue was resolved) and seeing the destruction in the forest wrought by Hugo in 1989, and losing power for a week (our neighbor somehow procured us a generator after 24 hours) during Isabel in 2003. I know gas lines, but I can't fathom the devastation I have seen in pictures from New York and New Jersey.There are people dumpster diving for food, waiting in lines for 6 hours for gas, begging for water, food, and clothes. People's toilets aren't working and they are using the hallways of their apartment buildings as bathrooms. So why is Mayor Bloomberg insisting that this weekend,of all weekends, New York host the NY Marathon?  

People who read my blog know that I am a serious runner and that I run in a lot of races. I understand that people have trained 6 months for this race, but there are other races, there are certainly things more important than one's personal satisfaction in finishing a 26.2 mile run. Supposedly there is a Facebook page already going of racers who are boycotting the race they already paid to enter, I say good for them. 

Rush Limbaugh was raving about this issue today, I would have called in, but I was running at the time. I did compose my call in my head instead, "Rush, not all runners are liberal health nazis, one of the reasons I run is so I can drink a 32oz Cocacola without guilt. I've lost a total of 120 pounds of weight from my last 3 pregnancies running everyday at noon sharp listening to your voice of reason for an hour or so. I noticed an ad for the NY Marathon in a magazine the day after Sandy struck and mentioned it to my husband. He said they would certainly postpone the race, while I thought they would cancel it and refund every one's entry fee. But going ahead with it is just foolish, why use resources that people desperately need just for a race? I can see the residents taking their frustration and anger out on the runners and some people getting hurt. It is just a race, cancel it for this year and then have a big hoorah next year to show how everything is back to normal. It isn't the Olympics or anything."