The official death toll and list of missing at the World Trade Centre has dropped sharply after city officials implemented a more accurate system for calculating the figure.
The toll, which includes people on the ground and those aboard the two hijacked planes that hit the twin towers, stand at 3,646.
That number reflects a drop of more than 250 from the beginning of the week - and a drop of almost 3,000 from estimates in September.
The city's new calculation method relies strictly on death certificates and a list of missing persons to avoid duplications in the list.
"What the new numbers basically do is to try to simplify it," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
The medical examiner's office had issued 443 death certificates based on identifications made from remains found in the wreckage and 1,820 for people who were presumed dead but whose bodies had not been found.
The remaining 1,383 people in the official toll are listed simply as missing. That number is expected to drop as death certificates are issued and errors in the tally are resolved.
Previously, there had been a disparity between the city's official tally and the one maintained by the city's medical examiner.
This was because the city was using a "police standard," in which remains could be identified if they were found with clothing or an identification card, while the medical examiner relied on scientific evidence.
The city will no longer use the police standard for the official tally.
AP