And how now, New York?

So just how bad is the crisis on Wall Street for New York City? We called Michael Dolfman, regional commissioner for the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, to find out. The answer isn't pretty.

Movers: How significant is Wall Street to New York City's economy?

Michael Dolfman: In 2007, 6.9% of employees in the New York tri-state area worked in finance. In Manhattan alone, the finance and insurance industry represents about 13% of employment and 56% of all wages. Employment in the financial activities sector represents more than $1 out of every $2 that is earned, so one out of every eight jobs generates more than one out of every $2 in wages.

So how will the crisis affect the city?

One thing that we will watch carefully given the shock of what's happened with Lehman Brothers is job loss. When you have people from the highest-paying sector losing jobs, that has to have an effect. For every job lost in the financial services sector, we will see job losses throughout the entire economy. This will have a profound effect on the city and regional economy including in the legal, accounting, real estate, retail and wholesale and restaurant business. Tax revenues and payroll taxes will be down too.

Just how wealthy is Wall Street?

For first quarter of 2007, the average weekly wage in the U.S. in the private sector was $884, and for people in the financial services industry, it was $2,246. In Manhattan, that average was $2,817 per week for the general workforce and $12,386 for those in financial services. It is skewed due to the effect of bonuses.

When was the last time things looked as bleak for New York?

We had a very bad turndown in 1987, and we've had economic downturns that have hit all segments of New York City and the region. What we're seeing now is economic problems focused exclusively on the financial services industry. After 9/11 the same thing happened. We had a recession in 2001, and it was worse in New York because of the damage on financial services.

When will we start seeing the impact of the crisis on the economy?

If we look at 9/11, we saw the collateral effects in other industrial sectors such as leisure and hospitality and retail and wholesale trade within three to six months. In the next quarter, based on historical measures, we should begin to see losses in sectors in the New York economy, and this is going to be ongoing. Historically, recessions tend to start earlier in New York and tend to last longer than the nation as a whole.