To better explain his monitoring of local finances, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a YouTube video detailing the “fiscal stress test” his office developed last month.

The stress test is essentially a rubric used to determine whether a local government is reaching a critical point with its finances, as judged by several long-term and medium-term problems.

DiNapoli’s video comes a day after several large-city mayors in New York released a statement pushing back against a Fred Dicker column suggesting that they were seeking some sort of cash bailout to aid their coffers.

The mayors insisted what they were really looking for was working with Albany to solve their issues.

“We are trying to address a serious financial problem that affects many of the citizens of New York who live and work in our cities,” said the mayors of signed on to the statement: Stephanie Miner of Syracuse, Mike Spano of Yonkers and Tom Richards of Rochester.

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