The Upper East Side, home to most of many of New York's wealthiest financiers bankers and lawyers, was in shock yesterday after the devastation.
The designer shops along upscale Madison Avenue were mostly closed and an eerie silence had settled on the area as thousands of workers from the financial district streamed home on foot.
Many dressed in business suits and carrying heavy briefcases were ill-equipped for their walk in the 80-degree heat. Their faces were almost uniformly grim; some were holding back tears.
People crowded around phone booths while others huddled in groups to use their mobile phones.
A local church had set up a water station for the hot and weary walkers.
Noticeboards requested blood donations at the nearby Lenox Hill Hospital.
Central Park was quiet. Tourists sat about aimlessly .
All Museums and visitor attractions were closed. The children's playground at 76th Street, normally at this hour packed with toddlers and their nannies, was almost deserted.
On Fifth Avenue, people crowded around a parked car listening to the news on its radio.
The island of Manhattan was sealed off. All bridges, tunnels and the subway were closed.