WALL STREET WOES

With the stock market taking a plunge not seen since the Sept. 11 attacks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, held a press conference on Sept. 15 at City Hall to give a sobering yet optimistic assessment of the city's economic health. He gave assurance that the budget will remain in balance despite tax revenue lost from now-bankrupt Wall Street investment firms. "In years when revenues exceeded expenses," Bloomberg said, "we saved as much as possible for the years when we would really need it." Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Comptroller William Thompson also attended the press conference.