Court Ready to Ref Property Rebate Check Dispute

A State Supreme Court judge said he's ready to step in if the Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council continue their skirmish over the $400 property rebate checks. In a hearing about a lawsuit from S.I. lawmakers over the checks, Justice Philip Minardo said, "This is a serious matter, and it affects hundreds of thousands of people, and it's not going to languish. If the Council and mayor do not agree, then...the court will decide." Bloomberg, who contends the city can't afford the $256 million, said, "I would like to send out the checks. The question is, what is the cost of doing that? If we do that, make no mistake about it, there will be fewer city employees, because that's where the city money goes, to pay employees who provide services." But City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, "This shouldn’t be in the courts...the checks should be sent out and we should stop wasting court counsel’s time in court" (but she did concede it would be impossible for the Dept. of Finance to send the checks by Christmas).