New York axes marathon as some electricity returns to city

NEW YORK // The famed New York marathon slated for Sunday has been cancelled in the face of a rising death toll, crippled city infrastructure and widespread fuel shortages inflicted by superstorm Sandy.

Even though electricity finally returned to swaths of the Big Apple, parts of the city continued to struggle to recover from the devastation that killed at least 95 people in 15 states and in Canada.

The toll in New York City alone rose to 41 and at least 14 died in neighboring New Jersey, where searches of isolated areas are ongoing.

There was a glimmer of good news as power returned to 90,000 customers in Manhattan, amounting to almost half of the residences still left in the dark since Sandy struck.

People in the streets of Lower Manhattan cheered as the lights gradually came back on. Full power was expected to return to the city's most densely populated borough over the weekend.

However, widespread outages continued in other parts of the city, as well as in New Jersey. Tensions were laid bare as fights erupted in huge queues at the few gas stations still functioning, with some cities in the New York region rationing fuel even for emergency services.

Amid the city's struggles, Mayor Michael Bloomberg reversed his earlier position that the city's marathon should go ahead as a sign of resilience.

He had been under growing pressure from critics who said the marathon would divert badly needed police and other resources.

"The marathon has always brought our city together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination. We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it," he said in a surprise statement.

The cancellation of the 40-year-old event was cheered by New Yorkers who organised a social media campaign accusing the authorities of being out of touch.

The marathon typically brings the city $340 million, but much of that would have been lost, organisers said, because as many as 10,000 of the field of nearly 45,000 runners wouldn't have come this year because of the damage.

More pressing was finding vehicle fuel as the biggest US city attempts to return to life.

Many stations have gasoline but no electricity to power the pumps and handle payments. Some station owners refuse to open until police are on guard.

At Essex County in New Jersey, authorities were limiting even police and fire vehicles to half a tank. Some drivers said they waited up to 10 hours to fill up.

The American Automobile Association estimates that 60 per cent of gas stations in New Jersey and 70 per cent in New York's Long Island are closed. Authorities say 13 of the 34 fuel terminals around New York have no power.

Suffering Manhattan commuters are struggling with "significantly" fewer taxis, according to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The government, meanwhile, brought in fuel from other states and reopened ports to get supplies moving.

According to The New York Times, the White House has also instructed the defence department to send 24 million gallons of fuel to the region and lifting restrictions on deliveries by foreign-flagged ships.

It authorised the department to hire hundreds of trucks that will be used to deliver 12 million gallons each of gasoline and diesel fuel, mostly from commercial suppliers, to staging areas in New Jersey, the newspaper said.

Despite progress in Manhattan, the lack of electricity also continued to afflict tens of thousands of homeowners.

Some areas of New York may have to wait until November 11 before getting power back.

National Guard troops handed out 290,000 meals and 500,000 bottles of water in the first day of an emergency aid operation in New York, Mr. Bloomberg said. Hundreds also queued for free ice to preserve food given out in Union Square.

Mr. Bloomberg has handled the challenges of responding to one of the most devastating storms to hit the US, but the marathon controversy could put a dent in his standing.

Pressure began in petitions on Twitter and other social networks, before politicians joined in.

Christine Quinn, the city council speaker and close Bloomberg ally widely tipped to succeed him, said she wouldn't have given the go-ahead.

Mr. Bloomberg defended his initial decision earlier, saying New York pushed on with the marathon after the September 11, 2001, attacks and had to do so again.

But Staten Island community leaders have complained bitterly that they have been forgotten as aid pours into other districts. At least 18 people died on Staten Island, where huge waves swept away homes.