The attack on the World Trade Center on Tuesday could give a short-term boost to the New York market for office space, but the tragedy may ultimately lead businesses to abandon the city and create an office glut.

The attack has left scores of companies with offices once located in the twin towers or in nearby buildings in Manhattan's financial district scrambling for temporary space.

Real estate brokers said many of the companies are trying to quickly find new space for their workers even as they deal with the emotional toll from the unprecedented attack.

"People are horrified from what happened," said Marc Shapses, senior director at commercial real estate firm Julien J. Studley. "At the same time, executives have to turn around and secure a place to continue doing business."

In the short-term demand for temporary office space is expected to be strong. More than 40,000 people alone worked in the twin towers on an ordinary day, and more worked in a nearby building also destroyed in the devastation.

The collapsed towers alone housed more than about 15 million square feet of office space, according to industry experts, which is more than the amount of vacant space on the Manhattan market, according to market data from Reis.com.

Reis estimates there is more than 400 million square feet of office space in New York, with less than 4 percent of the space vacant.

Tuesday's attack and fear of future attacks will probably push some firms out of Manhattan, said David Kriss, owner of commercial real estate firm David S. Kriss Realty Co. Inc.

"I think there will be other attacks," Kriss said. "This is what is going to devalue real estate in the city."

NO PRICE GOUGING

Even though space is at premium, commercial real estate agents and landlords say they weren't out to gouge new tenants who were desperate for space.

HQ Global Workplaces, the largest provider of temporary office space in the United States, expects to fill up the 2000 empty workstations it has available in the New York Metropolitan area fairly quickly with new tenants in its buildings coming in at the beginning of next week.

Even so, Chief Executive David Rupert said, the company will not raise its asking rents.

"We will not raise prices above our current market price," Rupert said. "We have an intention of working with our existing clients first to give them some preference and also we will not give all of the available space to any one organization. We want to have a very rational centrally controlled process of space allocation."

Some companies are offering free services or free space to displaced companies who are searching for new space.

James Meiskin, president of Plymouth Partners Ltd., a company that represents tenants looking for office space, said his company would donate services to displaced companies.

In a release on Wednesday, software company knoa Corp., which has offices in the Union Square area of Manhattan, said it was offering temporarily about 20 desks for free to any company that was located in the World Trade Center of surrounding buildings.

While displaced companies may eat up vacant space and temporarily boost New York's office occupancy, agents, say, the long-term effect is uncertain.

"I think it's a short-term band-aid for the New York City real estate market," said Meiskin. "I think ultimately the band-aid is going to break apart."

Meiskin said some of his clients, who worked in the World Trade Center and neighboring buildings, may decide to move out of the area permanently. Business will likely be disrupted for weeks or even months, experts said.

The next few weeks are paramount for displaced companies, according to Ken Siegel, managing director of the tenant representation group at commercial real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle, which still must make long-term plans.

"Everybody's concerned really about the next two weeks," he said, "After that (they'll think about) the next five years or 10 years."