New York has never had the same car chase culture of LA. But if you were hoping the day would come when you'd be able turn on the TV at any moment of the day and watch felons flee the scene of a crime from a news helicopter overhead, don't get your hopes up. After dumping many of its human assets over the past few months, WNBC has announced it plans to save cash by getting rid of NewsChopper 4. [NYDN]

Get your extra quarters ready: The MTA board voted 12 to 1 this morning in favor of raising subway and bus fares from $2 to $2.50 per ride, even though the agency also plans to carry out a round of service cuts and shut down certain bus routes and extend the length of wait time between trains. On the bright side, if you were one of the unfortunate souls to lose your job this week, this news shouldn't faze you much, since you won't have to worry about commuting from now on. [NYDN]

Say goodbye to free WiFi in Central Park. The service has become the latest casualty of the recession, now that city officials say they can no longer afford the expense of maintaining the network without any a sponsor willing to foot the bill. On the upside, you probably won't notice its absence for a while, since there aren't too many people sitting in Central Park with their laptops out in the middle of winter. [Crain's]

The board of the MTA will meet today to unveil a set of cutbacks designed to address next year's estimated $1.2 billion budget shortfall. What can you look forward to? Among other things, the end of the W and Z lines, 1,500 fewer MTA employees, and longer gaps between trains at midday and between two and five in the morning. [NYDN, NYT]

Mayor Bloomberg's plan to slash the city's budget will require cuts at all local agencies. It also means he's going to have to cut 23 people from his own staff if he expects to comply with his own order on "maximum allowable headcounts." If you work at City Hall and the mayor asks you to step out of the bullpen and into his glass conference room, well, don't say we didn't warn you! [NYP]

More bad news today for the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. After suffering the embarassment of having senior partner Fred Tanne's STD test results laid bare for all to see earlier this week, employees were informed today that Tropicana orange juice, cereal, and yogurt has been cut from the firm's free breakfast menu. We'll assume the change has more to do with budget cuts and less to do with an aversion to sharing orange juice containers with a guy who has herpes, but we'll leave that up to you to decide. [Above the Law]

Michael Bloomberg has revealed how he plans to slice $1.5 billion from the city's budget this year and next. Some 3,000 city employees are going to be losing their jobs, he's rescinding the 7 percent property tax cut, and he's also suspending those annual $400 property tax rebate checks. [NYT]

Condé Nast publishers and editors have been instructed by the powers-that-be to cut both their staffs and budgets by five percent immediately. Also, to the 29 faithful subscribers to Men's Vogue, please be advised the magazine may be closed down in the near future. [NYO]

Turns out we were right about those business-side cuts at the Village Voice. Sources inside the paper tell us long-serving staffers were fired today, among them the Voice's accountant and benefits director, who, we're told, had spent 38 years at the weekly.

Yesterday we heard the Village Voice newsroom might be headed for another round of budget cuts. Last year the paper saw quite a bit of editorial turnover—at least 15 staffers we can think of quit or were let go. In December, the paper fired its new art director. But any additional cuts coming down the pike are likely to come instead from the business side of the weekly, which recently made employees skittish by dismissing a well-liked and longtime support staffer. Rumors of further downsizing are afoot. Stay tuned.

Previously: Village Voice Fires Art Director