This is a tremendous economic value for New York City, but it's also an incredibly valuable symbolic message and media message that New York City is open for business.

This is priceless as far as its value to New York City.

We've never done anything like this before. Our mission has always been to bring tourism to New York City. But the time is right for tourists to begin returning to New Orleans, and New Yorkers are always trendsetters.

I think people, for the first time, saw New Yorkers unfiltered.

We are on the path to a record year. We were set to celebrate, but it hangs in the balance with this transit strike.

A lot of the stereotypes went away after Sept. 11 of us being rude and … unwelcoming. For the first time, our police officers and our firefighters were a tourist attraction.