THE September 11 attacks could cost New York up to US$95 billion, partly depending upon the number of jobs relocated out of the city, according to a new report released Wednesday.City Comptroller William Thompson said in his report that the final financial toll the city suffers as the result of the attacks would be between US$83 billion to US$95 billion by the end of 2004, with the cost of replacing destroyed or damaged buildings reaching US$21.8 billion.The attacks on the World Trade Center destroyed 1.2 million square meters of prime office space, equal to the all the office space in the central business district of Atlanta or Miami.He said that New Yorkers would lose a total of 146,000 jobs resulting from the tragedy. Up till now New York City has 83,000 fewer jobs than it did a year ago, but a likely economic rebound would have created 63,000 new jobs that now have not materialized.New York City will lose nearly US$3 billion in taxes that it would have collected in lower Manhattan. It also will have to pay almost US$500 million in overtime for cleaning up Ground Zero, Thompson said. The U.S. federal government will not reimburse the city for this overtime as well as some healthcare expenses for the workers.The city’s jobless rate in July stood at 7.7 percent, above the national rate of 5.9 percent.Thompson told reporters that the federal aid, though helpful for the economy, will not be enough to spur a rebound. That is because the aid package is not all cash; it includes, for example, a series of tax breaks and gives the city the ability to cut costs by refinancing some of its debt.(SD-Agencies)