Put another way, 3.4 million sf of mostly prime office space is no longer available in New Jersey. And of the total, more then one-third, 1.2 million sf, has been taken off the market here in Jersey City. Also, fully two-thirds of the total amount has been taken by just five organizations.

The largest amount in New Jersey has been grabbed by the most aggressive of the post-tragedy space hunters, American Express. The credit card and financial services company has taken nearly 700,000 sf of unoccupied space in Parsippany, Short Hills and Jersey City. A close second is Merrill Lynch, which has taken a total of 675,000 sf at three different locations in Franklin Twp., Somerset County, plus a 30,000-sf block of space in Weehawken, which is just north of Jersey City.

Also, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the devastated World Trade Center site and was based there, has leased about 330,000 sf of space, about equally divided between Jersey City and two of the Gateway Center towers in downtown Newark. Finally, both Dow Jones and Lehman Brothers have taken 300,000 sf of space in Jersey City.