Advocates have long said the requirement was an unnecessary barrier, and in his annual State of the State speech, the governor agreed. "For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go
to bed hungry," he told a crowd of legislators, mayors and other dignitaries. "We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation, and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food."

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Liu's office says it "has lowered revenue forecasts on personal income taxes to $8.63 billion from $8.72 billion in July, and business taxes to $5.48 billion from $5.52 billion also in July." It points to all the connections New York's financial and tourist sectors have to the European economy: "European banks have more than $1 trillion in assets in New York City offices, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all foreign bank assets in the City, according to Federal Reserve data. They also have extensive ties to other financial firms in the City, have thousands of employees here, and are active lenders in the City economy. Many of the City’s non-financial firms also have significant business relationships with European firms, and the City attracts millions of European business and leisure travelers each year."

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But Carey's death this weekend, as a major ratings agency downgraded U.S. debt after the summer's embarrassing debt-ceiling debate, was a reminder that the argument over who should bear the cost of government is as present in 2011 as it was in the darkest days of New York's fiscal crisis, when Carey—elected in 1974 after several terms as a congressman—steered New York through its near-bankruptcy.

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The mayor's executive budget, released on May 6, proposed $400 million in budget cuts, resulting in proposed layoffs of teachers, social workers, librarians and health care professionals. Bloomberg blamed the cuts on reduced state aid to the city. This week, the city and municipal unions have been talking about tapping into a union healthcare reserve fund to avoid layoffs. But for now, they are still on the table.

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One potential casualty of the proposed cuts is the Momentum Project, a volunteer-run organization that has been helping people with AIDS and HIV since 1985. Donnell Tillman-Basket, director of client services at Momentum, said that if the organization does wind up closing, the results would be disastrous.

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For instance, there was this one commercial building in his engine company's neighborhood. Because of the way local traffic flowed and the position of the hydrants nearby, if there were a fire at this building, the fire engine would actually pass one side of the building but then have to make a couple tricky turns before getting close enough to a hydrant to hook up to it. Those extra turns cost precious seconds.

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The mayor's budget summary heaps scorn upon Albany, proclaiming in bold text that "Over 70 percent of this year's STATE gap closing actions were reductions in local aid statewide without any reduction in mandates" (emphasis theirs) and adding, "Breaking a commitment that dates back to the 1940s and simply returns a portion of taxpayer's money back to their localities, the state has for the second consecutive year eliminated the city's share of revenue sharing."

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