The New York marathon is off.  Late Friday the event was cancelled after causing a storm of controversy.

The nation's largest marathon was supposed to begin on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Bridge in the shadow of absolute devastation. The headline in the Staten Island Advance said it all:  "Stop This Marathon Madness"

Originally, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg defended his decision to carry on with the race.

And INSIDE EDITION found in Central Park boxes of food saved for the marathon runners while people go hungry.

The plan was to offer runners 4,500 pounds of pasta, 32,000 gallons of water and to clean up from the race? 173 sanitation workers will be needed.

And the other thing that upset people was precious generators being used just to keep a tent warm for the marathoners, and the media.