He's paid more than the bosses who run his cash-strapped city.

All of this at a moment of pre-election jitters in a cash-strapped city.

When the idea of a parade was first raised, Mr. Dinkins said the cash-strapped city could not afford to pay for one.

Baseball and all professional sports are profit-making enterprises, which should not in any way be subsidized by cash-strapped cities.

What are cash-strapped cities to do?

"That's especially in a cash-strapped city, where people have been furloughed or even lost jobs."

"My feeling here is that a cash-strapped city is mortgaging its future."

All these demands would be costly, and cash-strapped cities and taxpayers are bound to resist.

But raising money for the cash-strapped city is only part of the strategy.

All this could cost at least $1 billion over the next several years - far less than a filtration plant, but a lot for a cash-strapped city.