Storm-crippled NYC subway creaks back to life

NEW YORK (AP) - New York City moved closer to resuming its frenetic pace by getting back its vital subways on Thursday, three days after a superstorm, but neighbouring New Jersey was stunned by coastal devastation and the news of thousands of people in one city still stranded by increasingly fetid flood waters.

The decision to reopen undamaged parts of the United States' largest transit system came as the death toll reached more than 70 in the US and left more than 5 million without power. Hurricane Sandy earlier left at least 69 more dead as it swept through the Caribbean.

In New York, people streamed into the city as service began to resume on commuter train and subway. The three major airports resumed at least limited service, and the New York Stock Exchange was open again. Amtrak's North-east Corridor - the busiest train line in the country - was to take commuters along the heavily populated East Coast again starting Friday.

Hundreds of thousands in New York City alone, though, were still without power, especially in Lower Manhattan, which remained in the dark roughly south of the Empire State Building after floodwaters had knocked out power.