Citigroup bailout slammed by New Yorkers

By Juan Lagorio

NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The bailout of Citigroup has made people in New York angrier than they were about any of the other government rescues of financial institutions this year.

In a random sample of people inside the Port Authority, the world's busiest bus terminal, only one man backed the government decision to prop up the New York-based bank, even though it is a huge employer in the region.

All the rest are angry -- even on the day before Thanksgiving .

"They were bailed out before, this is the second bailout, so what's going on? Are they going to ask for another bailout soon?" asked Cheril Nichols, a 50-year-old nurse from New Jersey.

"It is wasteful, very wasteful," said retiree William Dwyer, 70.

Earlier this week, the U.S. government announced an injection of $20 billion for Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and a plan to shoulder most of its potential losses on $306 billion of toxic assets, after the bank's shares sank more than 60 percent in the previous week due to concern about its ability to survive.

The $20 billion of government capital comes after a $25 billion injection last month.

In effect, the government has pledged about $1,000 per American to guarantee the bank's assets.