What about his claims about cutting welfare? The rest of the country did more.

Giuliani's welfare overhaul was a success, reducing the number of New Yorkers on public assistance to the lowest in 35 years. But the results trailed those achieved by national welfare cutbacks. In eight years, New York's rolls plunged 54 percent, from about 1.1 million recipients to 493,000, compared with a 62 percent drop across the United States, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

And he doled out corporate welfare:

New York City has long used tax incentives to discourage big corporations from fleeing the city to less expensive sites in the suburbs, and to stimulate redevelopment. Giuliani continued the practice, with what the Club for Growth called "an alarming propensity for doling out corporate welfare . . . and his favorite pet project of all - sports stadiums."

On tax cuts:

Giuliani often suggests that he alone was responsible for cutting 23 taxes, but seven of those moves were state initiatives, according to the city's Independent Budget Office. Of the remaining 16 tax reductions, Giuliani actually opposed the largest cut, which was due to come with the expiration of a 12 1/2-percent surcharge on the city's personal income tax.

Not only did he propose $600 million for Yankees' and Mets' stadiums, but:

Under Giuliani, the city built ballparks in Staten Island and Coney Island for minor-league affiliates of the Yankees and Mets - at a total cost of about $110 million, the Independent Budget Office calculated.