By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times, Dec. 9/10, 2012

[....] There is no official tally, but local leaders estimated that a few thousand small businesses had been shuttered or were operating at less than full strength since the storm and that as many as 10,000 jobs had been lost, at least temporarily. About 3,000 apartments in Lower Manhattan remain uninhabitable, according to Daniel L. Squadron, a Democratic state senator who represents the area.

“We’re really in disaster recovery mode down here, there’s no question about that,” said Ro Sheffe, who will lead a disaster-relief task force for small businesses in Community Board 1.

Mr. Sheffe, who has lived near the World Trade Center for 19 years, said he feared the financial district would fall into a slump, as it did after the terrorist attacks 11 years ago. “The nightmare I’m fighting day and night is this vision of the downtown area filled with empty shops and ‘for rent’ signs,” Mr. Sheffe said. “That’s something that we saw after September 11 and I never want to see it again.” 

Among the obstacles to recovery is the slow restoration of phone and Internet service, business owners and city officials said. Many merchants have been able to accept only cash payments for more than a month, an inconvenience they are loath to impose on the customers trickling in.  [....]