NYC 40/hr net-30?

[Terrence Brannon]

I got a call from a recruiter saying they were looking for a strong Perl 
programmer for a financial company. They were offering me 40/hr, payable 
every 30 days.

Is the market so depressed that a person w/5 years of doing nothing but 
Perl professionally can only eek out 40/hr in New York City?

Also, what do you think about 40/hr? I am used to getting 75/hr W-2 in NYC.