Northeast

New Jersey pharmaceutical maker Theragen Inc. must immediately now pay all of the outstanding principal and accrued interest on its Series 2005 bonds because the borrower has been in default for more than 60 days, according to trustee Bank of Oklahoma NA.

New York’s budget gap talks continued with little apparent action yesterday afternoon after Gov. David Paterson on Sunday announced he would act administratively to close $1.6 billion of the state’s $3.2 billion fiscal 2010 deficit. Both chambers of the Legislature met in special session to deal with the budget deficit but neither the Senate nor Assembly had taken up any legislation at press time.

Connecticut will round out the year with a new public-private partnership for highway service plazas. In December, a consortium will take over operations of 23 service plazas and sink in millions of dollars to upgrade the facilities.

After years of controversy, the Atlantic Yards basketball arena project in Brooklyn yesterday received board approval to issue bonds next month and won a major lawsuit that sought to overturn New York State’s use of eminent domain.

Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp. has been blocked from paying claims until it repairs its tattered finances under an order from New York State regulators.

New York Gov. David Paterson yesterday called on the Legislature to either pass a modified $3.2 billion deficit reduction plan or grant him the authority to do it himself. The Legislature is in its third week of an extraordinary session to cut the current-year budget gap but has yet to reach an agreement with the governor.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is watching for an opportunity to refinance nearly $600 million of floating-rate debt, including variable-rate bonds now owned by banks.

Like many mayors, it’s been a difficult year for Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, as the city was forced to cut its five-year budget by $2 billion and watch state lawmakers delay action on measures that eventually helped close the city’s current budget and avoid enormous layoffs and service cuts.

With a little help from the U.S. Treasury, the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp. plans a return to the housing bond market today after a nearly 15 month hiatus.

New York could face a downgrade or outlook change if nothing is done to close the state’s $3.2 billion current year deficit, or if actions to close the gap are primarily one-shots and revenues fall below projections, Moody’s Investors Service warned in a credit report last week.