LARRY McSHANE
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mayor Rudolph Giuliani played down chances of finding anyone alive in the World Trade Center rubble Monday as families and rescue workers faced the reality that many of the more than 6,000 missing victims may never be recovered.
``The chances of finding anyone will involve a miracle,'' Giuliani said. ``Miracles have happened.''
Giuliani said authorities would provide expedited documentation of death to families whose loved ones remained lost in the debris. The mayor has said some victims will never be recovered because of the intense fire caused by the explosions of the two hijacked commercial planes that slammed into the trade center towers.
Without a body, certification of death can take up to three years. The new plan, available beginning Wednesday without charge to family members, will let survivors get death benefits quicker.
``Some families have asked us about that, others have not,'' Giuliani said. ``We'll leave it up to the families.''
With 6,453 people listed as missing, Giuliani said the number of confirmed dead had risen by 15 people to 276 -- 206 of them identified. The massive rubble from the twin 110-story buildings has surrendered fewer than 20 bodies per day on average since the attack.
Only five survivors have been found, none since the day after the Sept. 11 attack.
Giuliani later attended a funeral for Fire Department Capt. Timothy Stackpole, who had survived a 1998 Brooklyn blaze that killed two co-workers.
The bodies of 40 firefighters were pulled from the rubble; more than 300 remained missing.
Giuliani was asked on the eve of the rescheduled city mayoral primaries about whether he wanted to stay on. He is barred by term limits from seeking a third term.
``It's a very important decision,'' said Giuliani, whose approval ratings have surged since the attack. ``I need time to think about it, and I haven't had the time.''
Regardless of the mayor's decision, the odds are against an extension of his administration. The Legislature and Republican Gov. George Pataki would have to enact emergency legislation to extend his term, or the City Council and city voters would have to amend the City Charter.
Neither is likely. The general election is Nov. 6.; the primary was delayed two weeks by the attack.
At other spots around the city, a semblance of the pre-attack New York began to reappear. Some workers were back on the job for the first time since the attacks, making once-desolate parts of Manhattan look quite normal for a Monday.
``It looks like there's a sale or free ice cream in midtown, and everybody's coming here,'' said Patsey Rose, a legal secretary from Queens.
For the first time in two weeks, she couldn't find a seat on her subway train into Manhattan.
Rose was unequivocal in supporting Giuliani for a third term: ``If he had enough bricks, he could rebuild the trade center by this weekend.''
Statistics released Monday showed that 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.
Near the trade center, edginess and complications persisted.
``Well, you gotta get on, right?'' said Jonathan Rapport, 28, a lawyer who wore shorts to work because the air conditioning was still out in his office.
Two-thirds of the telephone lines in lower Manhattan that were cut after the attacks have been reconnected, but 100,000 lines remained out of service, Verizon said Monday.
The Army Corps of Engineers announced it has awarded an emergency contract for dredging on the East River to increase the channel's depth to 17 feet. The work will allow barges to enter the area and take debris to landfills or recycling centers.
Former President Clinton spoke to more than 1,000 cheering students at the High School for Fashion Industries, where some students have been relocated from schools shut down by the attack.
Once Clinton finished, the students began chanting, ``USA! USA!''
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