TARA BURGHART
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- A city still grasping for hope of finding anyone alive in the rubble of the World Trade Center slowly turned its attention to helping rescue another group: the victims' families.
On Monday, authorities took steps to make it easier for families whose loved ones are missing in the ruins to collect death benefits without having to produce a body.
Relatives also will be able to claim insurance benefits, workers' compensation and get access to victims' bank accounts without needing a death certificate.
``We need to pay rent and for baby formula and lots of credit card bills,'' said Cindy Gomes, 33, of New York, who lost her banker husband in the attack.
With her daughter, McKenzie, in a stroller beside her, Gomes said: ``Our life was normal before, but now it's all on me. I work part time, but I can't work that much with a 6-month-old baby.''
With 6,453 people missing, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the number of confirmed dead had risen by 15 people to 276 _ 206 of them identified. Only five survivors have been found, none since the day after the Sept. 11 attack.
Over the past two weeks, Giuliani has tried to let families down gently, refusing to dash all hopes that anyone survived in the rubble, but acknowledging the chances are small and getting smaller.
``Miracles have happened,'' he said Monday, but added: ``It would be unfair for any broad hope.''
On Tuesday, voters went to the polls for a mayoral primary that will help decide who replaces Giuliani, who is barred from seeking a third term. The primary was delayed after the Sept. 11 attacks.
``If I had a chance, I would have voted for Giuliani again,'' said Elizabeth Dreier, an elementary school principal. ``He's shown leadership, poise and conviction through the crisis.''
Residents and businesses in lower Manhattan, meanwhile, are still trying to resume daily routines, despite the rumbling trucks and streets clogged with emergency personnel.
Two waiters from Salaam Bombay, an Indian restaurant, were posted Monday night in lower Manhattan, trying to attract customers. Their restaurant is inside the security perimeter set up around the debris field, and customers have to be escorted past the barrier.
``It's not only our business, not only this business. This area and near the World Trade Center, every business is slow,'' said Morshedar Rahman Ashik Morshed, adding that a lunch buffet that normally attracts 200 customers is serving less than 50 now.
There was some good news: Statistics released Monday showed violent crime dropped in the city 17.5 percent last week compared with the same period last year.
Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said the city has seen crime drop throughout the year, but the high security since the Sept. 11 trade center attack also seems to have had an effect.
To help rescue workers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Monday it has awarded an emergency contract for dredging work to be done around Pier 6 on the East River to increase the depth there to 17 feet.
The work will allow barges to enter the area and take away debris from the site to landfills or recycling centers. So far, 106,838 tons of the wreckage has been removed.
And phone company Verizon said Monday it has reconnected two-thirds of the voice lines in lower Manhattan that were cut in the attacks, but 100,000 lines remain without service.
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