"All children need heroes," reads the slogan in the window of one children's wear chain. "Thank you NYC." Six months after the attack on the World Trade Centre, New York is salvaging a story of heroism and pride from the tragedy, celebrating its own resilience. The clearance of Ground Zero is coming in under budget and ahead of schedule; perhaps the first time, commented one man, that a construction project has done so. Even Macy's is rising to the occasion with 'God bless America' mugs.
This month, the 'tribute in light' is visible from all over the city: two beams of light reaching high into the sky. Some find them uncomfortably reminiscent of the searchlights illuminating Ground Zero after the attacks, and there's similar unease over another tribute, the golden sphere salvaged from the ruins and placed, damaged and torn, in Battery Park.
But Manhattan's history is one of rebuilding and endurance; and that's most visible in the financial district, the oldest part of the city (Wall Street began as a 17th-century fortification marking the boundary of what was then New Amsterdam). The JP Morgan building, a few minutes' walk from the World Trade Centre, is still scarred from the 1920 bomb which targeted the stock exchange opposite in what was, until Oklahoma, the deadliest terrorist attack in American history. Morgan refused to have the damage repaired, finding in it a symbol of steadfastness. When, in 1835, a fire in the old stock exchange destroyed 700 buildings, they were rebuilt within a decade; when a substation serving the stock exchange was destroyed on September 11, 36 miles of new electric cable were laid in four days.
The current signs of renewal make this a particularly relevant time to take the excellent (and free) Wall Street tour run by Big Onion Walking Tours at noon on Thursdays and Saturdays. Weaving through the narrow streets in the permanent shade of the towers, the guides, all of whom are history graduates, deconstruct the self-aggrandising architecture of big money (in the days before banking insurance, a building had to look reliable). They also introduce some of Manhattan's key historical sites: the tavern where George Washington toasted victory over the English; the restaurant where the wonderful Victoria Woodhull, a communist investment banker of the 1870s who ran for president with a black deputy, did business, and Charles Dickens found "the best meal in New York". Big Onion's other excursions include historic Harlem, a multi-ethnic eating tour, Chinatown and the East Village. All cost $12.
Inevitably, Ground Zero has become a destination for tourists as well as an unhappy pilgrimage for New Yorkers. "We are not 'sightseers'," declares one graffito on the wooden viewing platform, over every surface of which have spread messages of condolence, sorrow and rage from the pitifully inadequate space set aside for visitors' thoughts. "We came to this 'viewing' to reflect and grieve." The site itself is contained and mostly level now, but flowers, banners, flags and photos still line the pavement. A child-size doll togged out in patriotic badges and patches kneels before the railings: the kitschification of grief. Saddest of all is the plaque erected in January listing the names of the dead; despite exhortations not to touch, some people have been unable to resist circling the names of those they lost, as though to rescue them from the anonymity of mass tragedy.
Even before September 11, there was a drive for renewal in the financial district, with residential conversions bringing life downtown out of office hours. With its concentration of history, nearby museums and airy waterfront calm, Manhattan's tip makes a good base for a stay. Looking out over the bay in Battery Park with the city crowding behind you provides welcome respite from the frenetic traffic and cramped horizons of central New York. Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown and TriBeCa are all within walking distance, and you're ideally placed for trips to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Local shops with unmissable browsing opportunities include Century 21 for discount clothes and Murder Ink for books. The excellent Museum of Jewish Heritage is being expanded, and a women's museum and skyscraper museum are also planned for the area.
There's luxurious accommodation in the shape of the new Ritz-Carlton, originally intended to open last October. Situated just south of Battery Park City (built on landfill from construction of the World Trade Centre), its crowning glory is the fantastic view over the bay; make sure you get a harbourside room, complete with telescope to bring the Statue of Liberty into focus.
The accent is on luxury and service (it belongs to the class of hotel that performs strange origami on the loo roll, just to remind you that they've thought of everything), and there are plenty of useful and beautiful touches, from umbrellas in the closets to the many artworks in the rooms and lobbies, commissioned from over 100 New York artists. The rooms have a welcoming mix and match Art-Deco style, and there's a 14th-floor terrace bar from which to watch the sunset and a restaurant serving stylish contemporary-American cuisine. Additional inventive pampering includes power teas for the financial crowd (foie gras, steak tartare and a vodka-infused cuppa) and a water sommelier who is able to enthuse at length over Perrier's "big, almost spicy" bubbles and the commendable purity of 450-year-old Fijian still.
Such determined luxury could be intimidating, but the atmosphere is friendly and informal enough to welcome those who prefer to run their own baths (those who don't can ring up the Bath Butler and order a Wall Street aromatherapy soak, with champagne for the bullish and beer for the bearish). Even with New York outside, it's a hard hotel to leave.
I returned to reality in the shape of another walking tour, this time with a Big Apple Greeter. This is a fantastic scheme, set up in 1992, whereby New Yorkers volunteer to spend two to four hours helping visitors find their feet in the city: unravelling the mysteries of the subway (and giving out a free day pass), introducing an unfamiliar neighbourhood, revealing the city behind the tourist sights. Among other wanderings, my greeter indulged my whim to go and have a good sniff in Little Italy's 100-year-old cheese shop; insisted that we go to Grand Central Station, which I'd foolishly assumed wasn't worth a detour; and guessed that I'd be delighted by the eight miles of discounted books at the Strand Book Store (set aside an afternoon and a spare suitcase). It's the friendliest side of a city that is, at the moment, particularly welcoming.
Ways to go
Justine Jordan flew to New York with American Airlines; return prices from London Heathrow-New York in April start from £230 including tax (restrictions apply).
Ritz Carlton: for reservations call 0800 234 000, or visit www.ritzcarlton.com. Prices start at $260 per room per night for a city-view room at the weekend to $750 for the Liberty Suite, excluding tax.
Big Onion Walking Tours: call (212) 439 1090 ext 1, or visit www.bigonion.com.
Big Apple Greeters: 1 Centre Street, Rm 2035, NY 10007. Tel: (212) 380 8270. Fax: (212) 380 3685.
