By Greg Hinz, includes “The major reason why the pain level is down is that $2 billion from Uncle Sam. While there are some strings on how the city can use it—for instance, no money can directly go to pay pension costs—the city has much more leeway than it did under prior aid packages, which generally required all money to go into COVID-related expenditures. … There is no shortage of claimants on that $2 billion.”