With a skimpy budget, how do Lobdell and John Bysiewicz, the race's coordinator, attract some of the world's leading runners?

No one said it looks like cargo-cult Radio City Music Hall on a very skimpy budget.

Adding to the disenchantment, many seasoned musicians say, the city's two resident opera companies are saddled with overloaded schedules and skimpy budgets, and as a consequence give lackluster performances.

The police and court officials say they are hamstrung by skimpy budgets, eager but inexperienced police officers and judges, and the highly inflated expectations of a more open society.

Sets left over from RKO's 1939 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame were utilized, but because of the skimpy budget, cardboard sets were also used at some points.

With their skimpy budgets, indie directors tend to set movies in kitchens or living rooms - and focus instead on providing quality acting and scripts.

"If Council Speaker Peter Vallone can find $2 million in his skimpy budget, we can find what we need," Cuomo said, pledging support.

"We've worked so hard, we've come so far," he said, referring to the recovery of the armed forces since the days of public indifference and relatively skimpy military budgets in the 1970's.

Inside his own house on a quiet street here, hardly a corner of any room could be done on his show's skimpy budget.

"Solo," which opened locally yesterday, might be described as "Robocop" meets "The Terminator" on a skimpy budget.