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National Debt Too Big for National Debt Clock to Handle
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 7, 2008
Modified Oct 7, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 7, 2008
Modified Oct 7, 2008
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After the end of the Clinton era, the National Debt Clock in midtown was temporarily turned off because the number had actually started to go down for the first time since it was installed in 1989 by real estate developer Seymour Durst. Now, after eight years of The Decider, the number's gotten so vast and incomprehensible and depressing that the sign isn't big enough for all those digits. It's passed $10 trillion, and the Durst Organization will have to add another a spot for a 14th digit—while they're at it, they may as well make room for a 15th and 16th digit, and change the currency to yuan. For now the digital dollar sign currently on the clock has gotten its big break and stepped into the role of the '1' in $10 trillion. Break a leg, $!
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national debt clock
new york
nyc
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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