NYRR, please let this be a GAP stunt?

THIS is the new logo? Seriously?! 

NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg says they "wanted to make the logo more about the runner than about New York." Really? Why don't you put that in your mission statement and actually practice that before messing up a perfectly distinguished logo with a generic one?

The apple has been in your logo for over 30 years. You basically just did the equivalent of taking the swoosh out of Nike (as if they'd ever do that! They're not stupid.). Not only that, but it's bad vector art (Can we say live trace anyone?) and you cut off part of the badly skewed letters to make a road that looks even worse.  You want a makeover? I'll give you one for free: Keep the apple, make it the lighter blue then put NYRR next to it or under it. Done. A fabulous revamp.

Ok, fine, you want it to be about the runner? Well make it about the New York City runner. They are unique, just like every other city's runner (no joke intended, but that is kind of funny). What about that new logo says anything about NYC? This is the organization that puts on THE New York City Marathon after all. It is the best runner's organization (even with the bad communication problems) in the country and you want it to look like any other badly designed runner club in the backwoods of the country? Awesome. Oh, I'm sorry. You were going for global? That doesn't say global, it says generic. Shame on you, NYRR. You should be acting like the leader in the running world, instead of a follower of bad design.

I don't mean to attack you, NYRR. I really don't.
But my poor designer heart hurts for this.