If Governor David Paterson has his way, New Yorkers might one day be buying their lottery tickets from the Carlyle Group private equity firm and paying their highway tolls to the Calpers pension fund or the Australian investment company Macquarie Group.

While some commuters may not be comfortable with handing over the daily operation of the aging Tappan Zee Bridge to Wall Street's wizards—or with the steady toll hikes that would follow—no one can blame Paterson for trying to think outside the box.

When it comes to tax revenue, New York is hurting like a broke mule. America's housing crisis and Wall Street's collateralized wealth destruction have helped to leave the state with what is expected to be about a $26.2 billion deficit over the next three years.

As the governor put it in his televised chat with constituents Tuesday: "It is time for New York and other governments to cut up our credit cards. The era of buy now, pay later and later is over."

Whether or not that era is truly on the wane, New York stands among a growing number of states and municipalities looking to sell now, collect sooner and later. Ballooning debt burdens and plummeting tax revenues have revived governments' interest in wringing money from their infrastructure assets.

Robert Poole, director of transportation studies at the conservative Reason Foundation, said the renewed interest is natural: "As someone in Britain once said, a big fiscal crunch, like a hanging, tends to concentrate the mind."

"We've been studying privatization for close to 30 years," Poole added, "and, in general, there is a strong relationship between governments being under immense fiscal stress and their interest in privatization."

New Jersey, which faces a $3 billion deficit this fiscal year, is considering privatizing its lottery and raising tolls. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is staring down a $14 billion deficit, recently promised enabling legislation to ease the ability of the state to partner with private firms to build and run its infrastructure.

The recent lesson of Pennsylvania has not been lost on other states. Faced with a $1 billion deficit, that state has tentatively agreed to give a private consortium a 75-year lease to run its 537-mile turnpike. The deal, if approved by the legislature, would leave the state flush with a $12.8 billion lump-sum payment.

New York's problems are particularly urgent. A main engine for economic growth in the state—Wall Street, which accounts for about one-fifth of all tax revenue—continues to drown in its own red ink; layoffs are expected to reach more than 35,000. Paterson said that taxes on bank profits, which were around $173 million in 2007, are down 97 percent.