Today, the Dow Jones fell 512 points, its 9th biggest drop, over 4% as the S&P 500 also fell 4% and the Nasdaq plummeted over 5% as the world worried about the soundness of global economies. There's a lot of angst and fear, but in the scheme of things, it's not exactly like the downward spiral in late 2008—on December 1, 2008, the Dow fell over 700 points— and early 2009 (see graph)...yet.
• "This is a fear-driven market. We're in a mini-free fall. It's not a Black Monday, or Black Thursday, but it's in pretty bad shape-all the big stocks are being liquidated"—Christian Thwaites, president and chief executive at Sentinel Investments, to the Wall Street Journal
• "The conventional wisdom on Wall Street was that the economy was growing -- that the worst was behind us. Now what people are realizing is the stimulus didn't work, and we may be headed back to recession"—Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, to CNN
• "We are now in correction mode. We could have another couple of weeks to go before it bottoms."—Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s to the NY Times

During his press conference to discuss the economy today, President Obama acknowledged it was a "slow recovery" and said that while he was doing everything possible, "Because I am president, and the Democrats have control the House and Senate, it's understandable that people are saying, 'What have you done?"' CNBC reports, "Obama insisted again that Bush-era tax cuts be extended for individuals earning over $200,000 a year and joint filers earning over $250,000." Obama says Congress should pass the middle class tax cuts, "I’m prepared to work on a bill and sign a bill this month to ensure that middle class families get tax relief," but Republicans are "holding middle-class tax relief hostage" in order to "give tax relief to millionaires and billionaires." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg appeared on Meet the Press this morning in a segment with former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Of course, because there's a little over two years until the next presidential election—and he's flirted with running in the past—Mayor Bloomberg was asked if he's going to saddle up. And, yet again, he had to insist that being mayor of New York is the coolest job ever, "I will rule out a run. I've got the best job that I could possibly have. I've got 1251 days more to do it. I'm looking forward to every single one of them." more ›

Four former employees of Parking and Security Services Inc. were hit with 23 counts of grand larceny and identity theft after being caught falsely collecting over $95,000 in unemployment benefits. The company, which handled parking for movie shoots like Rent and The Taking of Pelham 123, used the cash to undercut competitors. However, they were discovered when those whose identities were stolen attempted to claim unemployment, and were told the money had already been collected. more ›

Party-switching Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy wants to "take a sledgehammer to Albany and knock it to pieces and then rebuild it from scratch"—which is exactly what the mustachioed man is doing to the Republican Party. Since he entered the race, Levy has created a major rift among Republicans, according to Politico. Levy won the backing of state GOP chairman Ed Cox, but former Gov. Pataki and former Mayor Giuliani are backing Rick Lazio's Republican bid. Insiders say Levy will emphasize his fiscal responsibility and hard-line stance against immigration to run as a "Scott Brown-type candidate, not as a moderate," but his opponent is already trying to depict him as a liberal for supporting tax increases and calling President Obama's stimulus package "manna from heaven." more ›

At least $350 million of federal stimulus money—and at least $65 million of annual subsidies—will be directed towards 21 New York City housing projects to pay for much-needed renovations. The major allocation of cash will allow workers to fix facades, roofs, heating systems, elevators and other problems in buildings where 20,000 New Yorkers reside, according to DNAinfo. Some tenants feared the stimulus money was a sign the buildings would shift away from low-income housing, but Mayor Bloomberg told the Daily News: "Nothing is going to change, except for the better." According to the Lo-Down, he added: "While other cities are blowing up public housing, we are preserving it." more ›

With the MTA facing a $400 million budget gap—even if it implements "Doomsday" service cuts and a 7.5 percent fare hike—Mayor Bloomberg warned straphangers yesterday that commuting will likely become more tedious, more expensive, or both. According to the Post, the Mayor said state legislators must "come up with some ways to fund the MTA, or the MTA is either going to have to raise rates dramatically or cut back service dramatically—or, what's more likely, some combination of the two," more ›

The Department of Labor released jobs data for November and it turns out the country "only" lost 11,000 jobs last month, bringing unemployment to 10%, after being at 10.2% for October. Now the Dow has jumped over 100 points on the news. more ›

Just yesterday city officials were bitching about how the Justice Department wasn't giving NYC a dime from the $1 billion economic-stimulus money intended to help cities avoid laying off cops. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder explained that, "These officers will go to where they are needed most, based on crime rates, financial need and community policing activities." In other words, crime is relatively low here, and other places (like the mean streets of Caribou, Maine) need help more. Mayor Bloomberg fumed to reporters, "To punish our Police Department because they have driven down crime with fewer resources shows the backwards incentive system that is sometimes at work in Washington." more ›

It's on! John Strong's freak show is officially headed East to set up shop on Coney Island this summer, just blocks from Dick Zigun's Coney Island Circus Sideshow. A press release announces that this summer visitors to the area will be greeted by more than 25 fun-filled rides and dozens of circus freaks, courtesy of John Strong’s Shows, allegedly the largest collection of oddities and freaks in all of America. Did we mention his entourage includes a 17-inch horse named Tiny? more ›

Mayor Bloomberg, Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand announced that $261 million in federal stimulus money will go towards NYC infrastructure projects. The projects getting direct stimulus funds include rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge (widening ramps, painting) and of the St. George Ferry Terminal ramps and upgrading the pedestrian bridge from East Harlem to Ward's Island. Bloomberg said, "The federal stimulus dollars mean that we can move projects that would have been on the chopping block and get shovels in the ground quickly -- putting thousands of people to work and rebuilding our infrastructure." You can also track the projects with the city's new stimulus project tracker. more ›

The Coney Island Boardwalk has been seriously deteriorating over the years, and Borough President Marty Markowitz says it's time for Washington to help save it. He tells the Daily News what anyone who's drunkenly stumbled around the Boardwalk with a Pina Colada knows all too well: "It’s in horrible condition." The city is currently spending $5 million to renovate a small section of the Boardwalk (with plastic!), but a total overhaul of the entire 3-mile promenade is estimated to cost more than $200 million. That's close to half of the total $500 million for infrastructure projects the city expects to receive as part of the federal stimulus package, and Markowitz says it's worth it, because Coney Island "generates jobs and it generates family fun, which is so needed right now." But with Astroland gone and other Boardwalk businesses getting squeezed by developer Joe Sitt, one wonders how much fun a family can really expect in the summers to come. On the other hand, falling into one of those treacherous holes in the Boardwalk is no fun at all. more ›

Atlantic Yards opponents have expressed considerable outrage over developer Bruce Ratner's attempt to get a taste of the federal stimulus package for his embattled stadium, office, and residential project in Brooklyn. Last week it came to light that former Senator Alfonse D’Amato’s lobbying firm, Park Strategies, was working behind the scenes to secure a cut of the stimulus for Ratner. But they can forget about getting any of the loot earmarked for the MTA; a transit official tells the Post that the stalled development is "not on any of our lists [of projects]." However, Ratner is still lobbying for some of the stimulus money outside of the MTA's purview; there's some $3.9 billion for "infrastructure and energy assistance" which will soon be at Governor Paterson's disposal. A spokeswoman for the governor says they're "examining whether the project warrants stimulus funds," and notes that "there's a lot of competition." more ›

The economic stimulus package will benefit New York more than any other state in several crucial ways, and Washington insiders say Senator Chuck Schumer deserves a lot of the credit. Much of the allocation is still being determined, but as it stands now, New York will receive more money for Medicaid relief ($12.6 billion), mass transit ($1.3 billion) and home weatherization ($403 million) than any other state. Schumer is widely credited with big Democratic wins in the Senate in the 2006 elections, and one unnamed Democratic "insider" tells the Daily News, "Pretty much everyone from Harry Reid on down owes their job to Chuck. So whatever Chuck wants, Chuck gets." And it's not just Chuck; even less senior players like Rep. Anthony Weiner have been bringing home the bacon, securing $390 million to help New York's aging housing projects. But Weiner explains that part of the recent legislative success simply has to do with the end of the Dubya era: "Trying to explain public housing elevators to the Bush administration was the equivalent of talking French to a fish." more ›

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen over 250 points as global economic concerns mount. The NY Times reports, "Shares on Wall Street skidded lower Tuesday morning, following a wave of selling in Europe and Asia, as investors expressed more doubts about the banking system and the fate of struggling American automakers." more ›