The Trade Center attacks will continue to wreak economic havoc
Various forms of insurance, including life, business interruption, and property and casualty insurance is expected to cover about one-third of the total $105bn New York City will have to endure, city comptroller Alan Hevesi said in a written statement.
"Insurance is likely to cover... about $37bn," Mr Hevesi said.
"The city could lose 115,300 jobs this fiscal year, although there will be an offset with some new jobs from clean-up, repair, construction and security," he said.
In addition, Mr Hevesi noted the four-day closure of the New York, American and Nasdaq stock exchanges "severely affected" many Wall Street firms, projecting that they will lose $7.5bn over fiscal year 2002, which ends in July.
Congressional action
Congress has already approved some monetary relief to help devastated areas in New York following the attacks, which have left nearly 5,000 dead and resulted in nearly 200,000 lost jobs nationwide.
Of the $40bn promised by President Bush to help affected areas recover from the attacks, half is dedicated to assist the devastated New York economy, which must share that amount with Virginia, where the Pentagon, which was also damaged, is located, and Western Pennsylvania, where a fourth hijacked plane crashed.
Mr Hevesi has called upon New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to again enlist the support of President George W Bush in garnering additional funds to help in the relief effort.
Defeated in last week's primary runoff, former Democratic mayoral candidate Hevesi said he seeks to tap into the $75bn Mr Bush has proposed to stimulate the lagging US economy, which has faltered further following the attacks.
Seeking quick recovery
The president made that announcement while speaking in New York on Wednesday, where he toured a grade school once shadowed by the Twin Towers.
The speed with which insurance payments are made will factor in the city's ability to recover quickly, Mr Hevesi said.
Other contributing factors include the duration of the clean-up, consumer's spending habits and the return to the city of companies who have sought office space outside Manhattan.
He added the intrepid nature of New Yorkers would help the city's recovery efforts.
"New Yorkers are the toughest, smartest most resilient people in the world," Mr Hevesi said. "We will recover from this attack."