The hordes of people, both visitors and New York City natives with their upward pointing cameras, wrist dangling gift bags and holiday smiles around Rockefeller Center seemed to reinforce the message being spread by city tourism officials: “The Big Apple is open for business and welcoming its usual influx of holiday guests”.

In Midtown and Lower Manhattan, the hub for the city’s holiday attractions, it was tough to tell that devastation had struck the city no less than two months ago.