Wall St.'s pain is acute for New Yorkers

NEW YORK — At a black-tie gala to help poor kids, a woman had champagne splashed on her Oscar de la Renta gown. A week ago she might not have cared that champagne stains.

But last week was not a time to ruin an $8,000 dress.

The merry-go-round on Wall Street is spinning off even the wealthiest of riders. First the venerable Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. were upended; then taxpayers rescued the insurance behemoth American International Group Inc. to the tune of $85 billion.

The market collapsed and recovered, and subway commuters tried to hold steady as they read the headlines. "Worst Crisis Since 1930s, With No End in Sight," the Wall Street Journal bellowed Thursday. And that was on Page 8.

Has Wall Street shaken this city before? Yes, many times, and once again, New Yorkers feared another avalanche.

There were reports of people canceling $600-a-month garage spaces to face the agony of parking on Manhattan streets this winter. In Greenwich, Conn., an investment banker haven, rules against posting for-sale signs were questioned.

"After this week," sniffed one matron, "all of Greenwich may end up on EBay."

Society columnist David Patrick Columbia witnessed the unfortunate champagne spill, which ruined Muffie Potter Aston's designer dress. He also saw her react graciously.

"She had to be philosophical," Columbia wrote on New YorkSocialDiary.com.

And so was he.

"We've been living a fantasy in New York -- with people paying $2 million for 2 bedrooms, buying expensive houses and tearing them down to rebuild, leasing pricey cars, sending three and four children for $30,000 each to private school. No one thought a moment about it," Columbia said.

Until last week. Economic crises permeate America, but they often affect New Yorkers more deeply because it has deep ties to the financial sector.

Last week, Jack, a popular Greenwich Village bistro, added the "Dow Depression Special" to its menu. Every time the Dow Jones industrial average falls, dinner entrees will receive a cent-per-point discount. On Wednesday night the discount was $4.49 -- the Dow had tanked 449 points.

Jobs in the financial sector represent about one-fourth of the city's personal income and roughly the same percentage of its tax revenues. The conventional wisdom is that every job on Wall Street creates two to four others -- for waiters and livery car drivers, store clerks and computer consultants.