ALBANY - Popular demand by tourists and New Yorkers alike cut no ice with Gov. David Paterson, who says the state's skating rink in Albany won't open this season because of budget deficits.

The rink at the Empire State Plaza complex of state office buildings next to the Capitol won't open for the first time since the early 1990s fiscal crisis. It's a popular lunchtime and weekend destination for New Yorkers during the holidays, alongside the state's massive Christmas tree.

Closing the rink is expected to save $150,000 in personnel and related costs. That's a small piece of the state's current deficit of more than $1.5 billion, but the most visible sign yet of hard times in New York.