WWE Defends Decision to Run in NYC Blizzard and Fans Still Trapped at the Show

[Travicity]

Some WWE fans who took the Long Island Rail Road to attend last night's Raw live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City were stranded near the venue as of Monday afternoon, according to Newsday.com.

The Long Island Rail Road was shut down Sunday night after service was interrupted by heavy snow storms affecting the city and surrounding areas. Sixteen hours later, service had not resumed.

LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone confirmed to Newsday that some "diehard wrestling fans" were still waiting at Penn Station for a ride home.

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World Wrestling Entertaiment issued the following statement to Newsday's Alfonso Castillo after Castillo was critical of the decision to run Madison Square Garden last night in the blizzard that decimated the Northeast with 20-32 inches of snow, depending on the area:

"WWE tries its best not to let down our fans due to the weather. After weighing several factors and consulting with Madison Square Garden management, The Garden was in favor of us running the event as they have a good track record of doing so during inclement weather, rarely postponing them. Public transportation was running, and this is a show in which a significant amount of ticket holders live in the city. All top WWE Talent had made it in to New York for the event."

The spokesperson also told Castillo that they would work with ticket holders who weren't able to attend the show due to the weather conditions on an "individual basis." So, if you missed the show, I'd get in contact with the company or MSG about a potential exchange and/or refund.

The local media has featured a LOT of mentions of fans stranded by the Long Island Rail Road and NYC public transportation system being hit hard by the weather conditions.

LOP/PWI

[Travicity]

There has been a lot of criticism thrown at World Wrestling Entertainment for the company's decision to run their Raw house show at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. It should be noted that WWE was not the only event to go ahead as scheduled in the venue, as the Cirque du Soliel show "Wintuk" performed in the 4,500 seat Theater within MSG at the same time and continued to run all performances as scheduled despite the venue.

All Broadway
and off-Broadway productions also staged their shows, as scheduled, during the blizzard.

So, it is not like WWE was unique in their decision to run events in NYC during the blizzard. While the Long Island Rail Road was indeed shut down, NYC's public transportation did indeed keep running, although they ran at a handicapped pace due to the environment.

All of this is very important to remember when throwing criticism of the company out there. It's not as if WWE ignored pleas to cancel the show. No one canceled their shows that night and in fact, only one event, a Fantasia concert at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, has been postponed since the blizzard. It's unfair to rip on WWE for doing what every other production did.

PWI

To bump and add :shifty: