This comes from Council Member Letitia James and really seems to be a sign of the times:

Council Member Letitia James Sponsors a Lien Sale Help Session this Thursday

[This] information pertain[s] to a notice sent recently from the Department of Finance, advising property owners that the City may sell debts owed on New York City property taxes and/or water/sewer charges in a lien sale if payment arrangements are not made by May 1st, 2009

On Thursday, April 16th, Council Member Letitia James has arranged for representatives from both the Department of Finance and the Department of Environmental Protection to hold a lien sale help session in the 35th Council District, for property owners to make arrangements to begin payment plans on outstanding debts. Also, please be aware that if you are a senior, or disabled, you may be eligible for a property tax reduction that could prevent the sale of a lien on your property. Properties owned by active duty military personnel may also be removed from the lien sale. Representatives of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development will provide information on low-cost loans as well. The details are as follows:  read more »

Here. Shed a tear for the Yankees before I start ranting about them.

This from Newsday, Balking at stadium deal:

The New York City Industrial Development Agency and state Assemb. Richard Brodsky agree on little when it comes to the new Yankee Stadium deal. Here's where they differ:

Luxury suite: City officials say the luxury suite at the new stadium has been cited in public records since 2006, specifically the lease agreement between the Yankees and the development authority. Brodsky claims it was "secretly acquired" and he only discovered it this summer after a public hearing. The box seats about 12 people and was envisioned for the use of the mayor to entertain dignitaries and reward city employees for exemplary service. City officials also have the right to purchase 180 seats at face value before they go on sale.

Jobs: NYCIDA has stated that more than 900 part-time workers will be the equivalent of an additional 550 to 770 full-time workers at the stadium. Brodsky has said the NYCIDA's records show an additional 15 full-time workers.

Threat to leave: When citing its reasons for allowing public-backed financing of the stadium, the NYCIDA cited the likelihood the Yankees would "relocate outside the city" if a new stadium deal wasn't struck. Brodsky said an investigation by his oversight committee found no evidence of a Yankee threat to leave. The closest thing to a fresh threat to leave were 1993 news clippings supplied by the NYCIDA in which such threats were discussed, Brodsky said.

NYC is going to get rimmed by this Wall Street bailout. There's no other way to describe this. We not only lost something in the order of 30 to 40 billion dollars in bonuses ALONE, we've lost over 11,000 jobs since the Lehman meltdown.  read more »

If you've read Corinne's liveblog of yesterday's Marketplace of Ideas Event on fighting against predatory mortgage lending then you know there was some really interesting discussion.

Now you can watch video clips from it too.

Senator Schumer announces his new lending bill:

and Councilman James Sander's responds to Mayor Bloomberg's assertion that the government can not address the mortgage loan crisis: