Thursday September 27, 2001

NEW YORK - Mayor Rudolph Giuliani detailed dramatic new restrictions yesterday on cars entering Manhattan, citing both security reasons and a need to ease the traffic jams caused by the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack.

He said single-occupant cars will be banned from all bridges and tunnels leading into midtown and lower Manhattan from 6 a.m. to noon. The measure will be tested beginning today, on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, because "traffic will be lighter, and we'll see how it works." The mayor did not say when the ban would end.

Giuliani said the restrictions were due, in part, to unspecified security concerns. He also said they may help reduce traffic jams that have snarled the city since the Sept. 11 attack. The ban includes some of the busiest commuter pathways in the country, including the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey and four East River bridges linking between midtown Manhattan and the financial district to Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. Two other tunnels near the disaster site, the Holland and Battery, remained closed yesterday.

It wasn't immediately clear how the ban would be enforced, though police said there would be checkpoints at entrances to the island of Manhattan. It was also unclear whether offenders would be fined, ticketed or simply turned away.

The mayor said exceptions to the ban would be announced later.

Security in the city was increased, Tuesday, shortly before Attorney General John

Ashcroft told Congress that terrorists may be planning an attack using a truck carrying hazardous chemicals. Asked about reports that specific threats had been made against the city, Giuliani said, "Sometimes they're credible, sometimes they're not."

Meanwhile, the death toll from the attack rose by 13 people to 300 confirmed dead, 232 of them positively identified. The number of people missing remained at 6,347.

At a city center yesterday, more than 70 lawyers began helping families apply for death certificates even though their loved ones' remains have not been found. The city and state have taken steps to make it easier for families to collect insurance benefits and workers' compensation and gain access to bank accounts.

Some families also are receiving grants of up to $30,000 from the American Red Cross to help with short-term expenses.

At the trade center ruins, crews continued to carefully dismantle one of the most striking symbols of the disaster, two jagged sections of steel facade up to 15 stories tall. Some pieces were being preserved in case they are wanted for a memorial. The demolition was erratic because rescue crews are still looking for people in the ruins.

"It's real slow because whenever we find a body part, we've got to stop and let them come in and investigate further," said Wayne Fallon, a heavy equipment engineer.

The facade, part of the base of the center's southern tower, has been one of the most photographed scenes of the devastation.

Civilians hoping to take pictures of it from police barricades a few blocks away were warned that cameras and video equipment were forbidden and could be confiscated. Giuliani issued the order, Tuesday, saying the site is a crime scene.

Police Officer Michael DiFrancisco, standing guard at a barricade, said the ban was also "out of respect for the families and all those concerned." The ban did not apply to news photographers.