[Dixie Yooper]

How much of this debt piled up in the last 6 months of his term? Since we are talking about New York City, I think the 9/11 trump card can be played here.

[Alberta's Child]

Actually, I think it's the other way around. I suspect there was an upward jump in the city's debt right around late 2000 and early 2001 -- since the stock market had tanked by that time and New York City depends heavily on tax revenue from Wall Street activity.

I also suspect New York City would have shown an enormous "surplus" for the last three months of 2001, because the Federal government was dropping huge piles of cash on the city at the time.