Rudin Family Marathon Hurricane Sandy Controversy

The Rudin family, who is converting St. Vincent's Hospital into luxury condos, is one of the main sponsors of the New York City Marathon, and after mounting criticism, the Marathon was cancelled. The Marathon would have three giant electricity generators, which would be used for the media tent ; meanwhile, NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals had to be evacuated due to backup generator failures. The Rudin family was about to be become open to major criticism for using generators that could otherwise be used for hospitals, or for others, in similar need.

Politicians were finally shamed by news reports about the misuse of city resources whilst entire hospitals had to be evacuated, because their huge generators failed. Not only that, but, for days now, residents rendered homeless in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Lower Manhattan finally reached a peak to actually be heard. This whole experience shows that politicians were tone deaf to the misuse of city resources, until the organisers and sponsors of the Marathon, such as the Rudin family and ING, were at risk of generating ill will with the public.