Hurting in New Jersey

The economy is on its downward spiral. The roller coaster ride of the stock market is making the downward descent even rockier. Yesterday down, today a dead cat bounce. The local economy is suffering., Not as bad as some areas of the country - see this California Devastation for how bad things are on the other side of the country. It is scary - and it looks like it is headed this way. That brings us to this article from WCBS-TV (local Channel 2 for North Jersey) regarding the Heart of Crisis: Local Families Drowning in Strife. Lets take a look -

With Congress yet to pass a bailout plan and the Dow Jones sinking, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the economy, but what's worrying you the most about the current financial crisis.

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Scary is the word both Jeff and Judy Marshall of Clifton, New Jersey use to describe the finances of their family. They worry each morning because nowadays they just can't make ends meet. Judy's a switchboard operator and Jeff's a Manhattan doorman. Together, they bring in $4,000 a month, but that's just not enough to pay the bills:

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Ana Perez of Massapequa is in the same boat. She lost her job at a bank a year ago and even though her husband is working, it's just not enough to cover the mortgage and the home equity loan used for their children's college fund:

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"Well, obviously the foreclosures are going to impact apartments and businesses in Manhattan. Some people could end up homeless. The fallout is that things are going to go under," said concerned resident Dmitri Lelchuk.

The mushrooming Wall Street crisis could cost the state of New York $3.5 billion in tax revenues over the next 18 months.

Yesterday was a pretty scary down - the DOW had a record drop. People are really hurting. Locally, regionally, nationally and internationally the crisis in on our doorstop.