Okay, so here's my naive take:
I understand that this event draws many people from around the world. So postponing it is not really a viable option for those folks. At the same time, this brings some serious money to the city. It shows that they cannot be brought down by a storm. Ideally, I would have like to have seen the expos focused on helping prepare the course. Use that week to get the runners of the marathon involved in the rebuilding of the areas they are about to run through. I think that would have been a win/win for everyone. I do not think that emergency services should have been diverted to the race. Instead, volunteers should have been recruited from the runners families, friends, etc. to "oversee" the marathon. This would have let the workers focus on what they needed to focus on while providing some oversight for the marathon. Not an ideal situation, but if NYC is going through a difficult time, shouldn't the runners face a difficult time as well? (i.e. not having emergency responders every two miles). I think that this could've been a great chance for NYC to show how resilient it is. Instead, I feel like the ones who demanded the race be called off and the NYRR both came out looking like asses. They should have said from the beginning, "Look, let's help each other." I think that is the true human spirit and what should have been exhibited. But then again, I might be too naive and idealistic for this crap...haha.