New York is deserted today on what should be one of its busiest weekends for tourism of the year, as businesses count the cost of a four-day city shutdown after Hurricane Irene forced people indoors.

Retailers will make heavy losses because of a shutdown on one of the last weekends before children go back to school – and one of the most popular times for tourists to visit.

However C. Britt Beemer, of America’s Research Group, told MailOnline losses will be ‘catastrophic’ for businesses, as this weekend would have seen 10 per cent of back-to-school shopping.

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