NYC National Debt Clock runs out of digits

NEW YORK (AP) -- In a sign of the times, the legendary National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing debt.

The Times Square-area ticker needs two additional digits to track a national debt 100 times larger than the current $10.2 trillion.

As a short-term fix the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock has been switched to a number one - the "1" in $10 trillion. The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year.

The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to the then-national debt of $2.7 trillion. The clock was turned off during the 1990's when the debt decreased.

Seymour Durst died in 1995, and his son Doug Durst now runs the company that maintains the clock.

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