And the real estate news keeps coming. Along with rising heating, water and gasoline bills, New York homeowners can now look forward to the second highest increase in housing taxes in 14 years. According to figures given to the Times by the City Council's Finance Committee the tax rates for one-, two- and three-family houses will be increased by 4.3 percent, while the rate on condos, co-ops and rental buildings will go up by 1.5......

Try your hand at figuring out how well you could manage New York City's finances by playing Gotham Gazette's Budget Game. Newsday looks at the game: The game is simple. Each player begins with a $3.8 billion deficit in the city's 2004 fiscal year budget. To balance it, players must weigh spending decisions, such as whether to raise and lower taxes or seek aid from the state and federal governments. But there is one......

Accusations that Mayor Bloomberg favors Manhattan more than the other boroughs aren't that surprising, but politicos are taking advantage of Bloomby's missteps. Prompted by the Mayor considering rethinking the reduced garbage pick-up proposal - but only in Manhattan - city officials are up in arms. Especially City Comptroller William Thompson, who has been the most vocal about the apparent favoritism, who said, "We must not engage in borough warfare." That makes some others think Thompson......