NEW YORK (AP) --
Despite assurances the show, or marathon in this case, would go on Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called off the New York City Marathon.
His statement Friday came after mounting criticism that this was not the time for a race in a city still reeling from Superstorm Sandy.
With people in storm-ravaged areas still shivering without electricity and the death toll in New York City at more than 40, many New Yorkers recoiled at the prospect of police officers being assigned to protect a marathon on Sunday.
Before the reversal, Bloomberg had said New York needed to show that "we are here and we are going to recover." Bloomberg said the marathon would "give people something to cheer about" after a "dismal week."
Bloomberg said his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, made the right decision to let the marathon continue after the September 2001 terrorist attack.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
