Seven major sponsors have dropped out of the always awesome West Village Halloween Parade, and the event's artistic director, Jeanne Fleming, says she's working with half the budget she had last year, leaving a $4,000 deficit. Organizers count on major sponsors to donate $25,000 each to the event, and the tanking economy could make next year a Hollow-een parade. Eh? Fleming tells Craine's, "The Halloween parade is a folk event. We can't just say we......

Could it really be that Manhattan's obscene rents are becoming ever-so-slightly less obscene? That's the Observer's perception, and they've got market reports from the Real Estate Group New York [REGNY] indicating that rents on studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are lower this summer than last. According to REGNY, in June the average rent for a Manhattan two-bedroom apartment in a non-doorman building was $3,950, 6.5 percent less than in June 2007. All this has the......