MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

After Hurricane Irene forced a massive shutdown of mass transit in New York City, subway service has been fully restored citywide, NBC New York reported.

There's an axiom that says, A crisis brings out the best and the worst in the human condition. And that was certainly the case with Hurricane Irene.

New York City was slowly getting back to business as usual on Monday after Hurricane Irene but hundreds of thousands of people who normally travel in from the surrounding area faced a hellish commute as flooding knocked out some transit routes.

Hurricane Irene could cost U.S. state and local governments billions of dollars in damages, but funds from the federal government might ultimately cover much of this expense.

With the city in good shape after Hurricane Irene’s visit to New York, one person has scored a big political victory: Michael Bloomberg.

New York reopened for business Monday, as subways got back into operation, though the city is moving slow getting back into full swing. Yet 25 lives were claimed by Hurricane Irene's destructive path, and millions remain without power. Hurricane Irene 2011 may not have been as damaging as some forecasts predicted, but from North Carolina, to Philadelphia and New Jersey, the storm's impact was severe, and weeks if not months may be required for full recovery.

Hurricane Irene was not nearly as catastrophic as expected; were the precautions necessary?

Hurricane Irene has left the U.S. East Coast but the update in the aftermath reveals a path of destruction, as the storm plodded along 1,100 miles of coastline while inflicting whipping and drenching impact. Clean will likely take months, and damage could near $20 billion on all.

Following Irene's fury, America's largest metropolitan city is back in business on Monday as most subways and buses resumed service. Commuter traffic is lighter than normal as many in the region still lack power and others who fled remain out of town, but it was a quick turnaround for New York.

Hurricane Irene swept through Manhattan on Sunday but reserved the worst of its fury for towns and suburbs up and down the northeastern United States where driving rain and flood tides inundated homes and cut power to millions.

Was the Hurricane Irene Path Evacuation and transit system shutdown ordered by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrong?

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has lifted the unprecedented evacuation order in place for Hurricane Irene, allowing 370,000 people to return to their homes Sunday afternoon in low-lying areas of New York after the storm hit the city Sunday.Also, the New York Stock Exchange will open Monday under a normal schedule, a spokesman said.

The New York Stock Exchange will open Monday, a spokesman said.

Hurricane Irene caused a landfall in East Coast as hurricane-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and widespread power outages wrecked havoc.

Hurricane Irene attacks New York Sunday morning, whipping in the east coast with its scary wrath--powerful swirl of wind, heavy rain and strong wave.

Hurricane Irene downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday, making landfall in Coney Island, N.Y., sending sea water running across boardwalk and down some low-lying streets in Manhattan and other boroughs, as well as power outages.

U.S. airlines canceled more than 10,000 flights due to Hurricane Irene by late Saturday, while New York and other eastern cities initiated sweeping storm-related shutdowns of rail and mass transit systems.

Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, knocking out power and flooding some of Lower Manhattan's deserted streets even as it lost some of its power.

New York City on Sunday morning sees Hurricane Irene weakening to tropical storm, as its menace battered the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast.

Hurricane Irene is not a hurricane any more: it was demoted to a tropical storm after its sustained winds fell below 74 mph to an average of 55 mph.

New York may have dodged a big bullet as Hurricane Irene weakened early Sunday but America's largest city isn't dodging major impact from the storm's path and might. Irene weakened to barely hurricane as it approached New York early Sunday morning and hurricane force winds were expected to spare the city, but the storm has rattled windows and been driving heavy rain since the early morning hours.