Answers to Questions About New York Ty Templeton, Courtesy of Charlesbridge Q. A recent F.Y.I. item mentioned that Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, who worked out the character during an hour spent in Poe Park in the Bronx. I've heard of Bob Kane, but not Bill Finger. Can you tell me about him? A. It's not surprising that the name is unfamiliar to you. According to Marc Tyler Nobleman, the author of "Bill, the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman" (a children's graphic book illustrated by Ty Templeton), the cartoonist Bob Kane relied heavily on Mr. Finger, a writer. Mr. Finger contributed many of the franchise's essential elements, including the story of Batman's origin, his alter ego as Bruce Wayne, the name Gotham City, the Batmobile and details of his menacing-looking costume. But, Mr. Nobleman writes, Mr. Kane negotiated a deal with DC Comics in 1939 without even mentioning Mr. Finger. "Bob told Bill that Bat-Man would be published and asked Bill to write it - without credit," Mr. Nobleman writes. Because such an arrangement was fairly typical, and because writing gigs were tough to get, but mainly because Bill was an agreeable sort, he said yes. For decades, Bill Finger wrote Batman stories - he was fond of writing offbeat action sequences featuring oversize props - but Mr. Kane never offered him an author's credit, and Mr. Kane's contract required him to be listed as the sole creator of Batman, Mr. Nobleman writes. Comic-book fans started writing about Mr. Finger in the 1960s; his last Batman story went on sale in 1965. By the time of Mr. Finger's death in 1974, reprints of early Batman comics were running with the credit "Story by Bill Finger," and Mr. Kane was quoted later as saying he wished Mr. Finger had received more recognition. Among his tributes to Mr. Finger, Mr. Kane said in a 1994 interview, "Bill Finger and I created the Joker." Jerry Robinson, whom Bob Kane had hired as an inker and letterer for Batman (and who, before his death in 2011, said he and Mr. Finger had created the Joker), helped establish, in 2005, the Bill Finger Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, presented annually in San Diego. Q. I send payment for my New York City water bill to Pittsburgh. Can't the city handle its receipts in the city with city employees? A. Christopher Gilbride, a spokesman for the city's Department of Environmental Protection, responded by e-mail: "The short answer is that the bank we use for billing consolidated their payment collection centers. This may change again in the future. The consolidation keeps the city's costs low, Mr. Gilbride added.