• International Herald Tribune, Tuesday, January 20, 2009 9:17 AM

This week, the eyes of the world will be on Washington, where the stars have come to rub elbows with the biggest star of all. But Washington has more than media celebrities, it also has control of the money. Cowed and battle-scarred New York Wall Streeters are now at the mercy of the federal government, whose cash infusions are keeping their storied institutions afloat.

The sudden downturn has deeply hurt the industries that give New York its identity - media, advertising, real estate, finance and even tourism. As a result, some New Yorkers feel that the city is losing, along with many jobs, its swagger and its sense of pre-eminence. The swift reversal of fortune is more painful for having come on the heels of one of the most colorful epochs in the city's history, marked by a skyrocketing economy and hit television shows that sold the world a vision of life in New York as the Emerald City.

Not to say New York isn't still exciting, but it feels a little grittier. "There is a sense that the thrill of paying $20 for a cocktail is over," says one ad agency exec. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg conceded a loss of verve last week when he said the city was "shaken" (but "not broken") as he put forward an ambitious jobs creation plan.

Read the whole story at International Herald Tribune »