CITIES: On the Brink of Bankruptcy

For New York Mayor John Lindsay, the timing was too painful to be coincidental. Within hours of Senate action shelving welfare reform legislation, the omnibus agency that administers the city's welfare programs submitted budget requests that, under existing payment formulas, will cost the city $100 million more for welfare this year than last. New York already foresees a $300 million deficit. Without federal and state help, said Lindsay, the city "risks bankruptcy and elimination of basic essential services" as a result of the welfare increase. Lindsay turned down the request and...