Bah! Humbug!
For as long as anyone can recall, a gigantic wreath adorned the Municipal Building across from City Hall each Christmas season.
Not this year.
Chalk up another victim of the city’s severe financial crunch.
“Given the budget cuts announced in the fall, we could not justify the $3,500 expense,” said Mark Daly, a spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
Officials said that the city used to order live greenery every year and that city workers would spend days assembling into a festive wreath that was 10 feet in diameter and weighed 2,000 pounds.
The cost of the raw materials consumed most of the expense, they said.
City officials might want to check the Web site of Christmas Tree for Me, which was offering 10-foot-diameter wreaths for $1,097, shipping included.