NEW YORK, NY October 15, 2008 —First Mayor Bloomberg, and now the city council Speaker Christine Quinn is raising the possibility of a tax increase because of the city's multi-billion dollar budget gap and its slowing economy.

Speaking at a breakfast for the Citizens Budget Commission, Quinn says keeping the city afloat would require some creative thinking and hard choices.

QUINN: We’re going to go back and see what other steps might need to be considered. I think we’ll need to look at personal income tax changes as well, and we need to consider other ideas. There’s a range of different things we should take a look at.

REPORTER: Speaker Quinn also says the city consider selling or leasing some of its assets, which would place commercial advertisements on the side of garbage trucks or street sweepers.

Quinn says the council is following the lead of Governor Paterson, who is creating a panel to study whether the state should lease its lottery, highways, bridges, parks, and beaches, to help government through the economic downturn.