The city of New York is showing fresh signs of returning to normal even as rescue and recovery efforts continue at the site of the collapsed World Trade Center towers in lower Manhattan.
More encouraging signs that the city is struggling to return to normal Saturday: Some subway and bus service have been restored to parts of lower Manhattan including the Wall Street area that had been off-limits since Tuesday's terrorist attack.
Meanwhile, rescue workers continue the grim task of looking for victims of the attack in the pile of rubble that once was the World Trade Center. More than 4,700 people are listed as missing in the wake of Tuesday's attack.
A rescue worker who was among several who found the bodies of two New York City firefighters who perished when the trade center collapsed on Tuesday, said "they knew that there were some remains in there and they pulled out, after a lot of digging, they pulled out the remains of two firemen in that rig. And that was across the street, that wasn't even near the World Trade Center. It was on the other side of the street all the way across the plaza. The building had just collapsed right on it and it was covered. I mean, you couldn't even see the fire engine under it."
On another sad note, funerals were held Saturday for some of those who died in the destruction of the World Trade Center including several high ranking officials from the New York fire department.
The city is now gearing up for the return of the financial markets on Monday. New York Stock Exchange President Richard Grasso said power and communications tests are being carried out with the expectation that trading will resume at 9:30 Monday morning. "This is the country that will lead the global economy and we should not act irrationally based on this terrible crime committed against us," he said. "In the marketplace, we should act with the resolve that this country will rise, will lead, our economy will be strong again and our investors will be well rewarded."
In a continuing effort to bring New Yorkers together in the wake of the tragedy, numerous churches, synagogues and mosques were holding special prayer services to remember the dead.