A largely powerless downtown Manhattan stands under a night sky due to a power blackout caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York October 31, 2012. New York City and the sodden U.S. Northeast began an arduous journey back to normal on Wednesday after mammoth storm Sandy killed at least 64 people in a rampage that swamped coastal cities and cut power to millions. The power companies had restored electricity to some 2.4 million customers in the U.S. Northeast, although the pace of recovery in New York appeared to lag behind other storm-hit states, according to the Department of Energy (DOE) data. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT DISASTER CITYSPACE) Published: Lis. 1, 2012, 3:40 dop. | Foto: Reuters