(Gov. Hugh Carey - a file cabinet full of painful decisions)

Hearing the news today of the impending fiscal crisis in New York and hearing the just released information that Los Angeles is a half-Billion dollars in the hole, not to mention the rest of California tipping over the brink, I'm reminded of the last time we had a City and State in Crisis. 1975 brought New York city on the edge of bankruptcy and an unwilling Ford administration offering little aid.

So, thirty five years have gone by and we're faced with pretty much the same situation, and in many ways worse. But in 1975 it was something new and the rest of the country wondered if it could happen where they lived.

The answer was, and is, a resounding yes.

So here is a hastily called address and press conference by then-Governor Hugh Carey of New York from October 13, 1975.

Gov. Hugh Carey: “There’s no comfort, no joy in what we’re doing. Because we’re going to the limits of what we can apply to the city in terms of economies and we’re being forced to set aside to some degree our hopes and aspirations for this city.”

Strange. I've been hearing a lot of those exact words lately. I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more of them in the coming days and weeks.