New York struggled to return to normality yesterday but it was a task that seemed all but impossible. The city remained perceptibly on edge, fearful of further terrorist acts and fearful of an economic slowdown that is leaving no person or business untouched.
Lower Manhattan's financial district reopened, but traffic jams and security checkpoints all but paralyzed normal movement.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani returned to City Hall and estimated 80 per cent of workers in lower Manhattan returned to their jobs. "It's wonderful to be back, to see it open. It's a symbol of New York." The courthouses, all located in lower Manhattan, returned to work, with lawyers and judges conducting business.
However he also struck a sombre note on the search effort. The possibility of finding anyone else alive in the ruins of the World Trade Centre was "very, very small," he said yesterday, one week after the city's skyline and psyche were permanently scarred in an attack by two hijacked commercial planes.
New York stood still for a minute to silently mark the exact moment at 8:48 a.m. a week ago when the attack destroyed the 110-story Twin Towers that symbolized America's financial might and had been the city's tallest buildings.
"The chances of recovering any live human beings are very, very small," Giuliani said at a news conference. "Those chances are not totally ended or over. We will still conduct ourselves as a rescue effort and a recovery effort." Giuliani and other city officials said 5,422 people were reported missing and 218 were confirmed dead.
New York Stock Exchange brokers and traders paused in their work and people stopped in the streets of the country's biggest city of 8 million people.
The moment was also observed across the country and at the White House. Only in the ruins where the Twin Towers once stood, did the work go on. Recovery crews in hard hats clambered over what has become known as "the pile," and huge mechanical diggers and cranes removed debris.
Elsewhere, many disruptions remain. Many judges have postponed legal proceedings for several weeks.
It is estimated that 20 per cent of the law firms in New York were affected by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. Thousands of pages of legal papers have been lost forever.
Downtown, generators hummed at barely lit intersections. Electrical cables snaked through the streets and flags flew at half-staff. Cops wearing surgical masks manned checkpoints. Crushed cars were stacked atop one another at some corners.
There was plenty of remaining evidence of destruction, especially the pungent gray dust that was everywhere. "It's very sad," said Keith Dunne (27) an insurance adjuster from Long Beach, Long Island. "There are armed guards in Manhattan. Who would have ever thought of a war right in our city?"
During the morning rush hour, subway stations were jammed with commuters trying to get out, yammering on cell phones, clutching newspapers and lunch bags and briefcases. The ferries brought thousands more - businessmen in pinstripes, businesswomen in suits and sneakers, delivery men in gym shoes and baggy pants.
The economic consequences are already being felt city wide as business at restaurants and Broadway shows has plummeted. The Irish hit play Stones in His Pockets announced it was closing on Sunday.
Three other Broadway musicals were closing after suffering devastating losses. Several other shows, including Les Miserable, said they would be closing within weeks unless productions costs could be cut. One proposal to cut salaries by 70 per cent was being considered by the theatre unions.
Video stores, meanwhile, reported an increase in business as people rented action movies and new releases.
At the Empire State building, which is now the tallest building in New York, security was extremely tight as army personnel checked photo identifications for everyone who works there. Getting to the office meant standing in queues some 40 minutes long.