Mayor Bloomberg, Officials Paint Finish Line For New York City Marathon

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - After joining officials to paint the finish line in Central Park, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the park will be ready for this Sunday's New York City Marathon.

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Bloomberg thanked the crews chipping up the London Plain trees that usually shade the finish line.

He says there's still a lot of work to be done after nearly 1,000 trees were destroyed by Saturday's snow storm.

"By this weekend, this park will be back to normal just in time for us to enjoy one of the greatest moments in the world - the ING New York City Marathon," he said.

"The Central Park Conservancy and the Parks Department staff and private contractors have worked around the clock to clear the debris. However, I would urge you still to be cautious when you're in the park or any of our city parks," said Bloomberg.

Hundreds of trees along the marathon route are down, says city parks commissioner Adrian Benepe.

"This was a terrible storm and the only silver lining is that it happened the week before the marathon and not the day before. That would've been some tough sledding trying to figure that one out," said Benepe.

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Bloomberg said that he will not be running in this year's race although he has been "loading up on carbs."

Over 47,000 runners from more than 100 countries are expected to participate in the race Sunday.

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