Power returned to hundreds of thousands of customers, with nearly all of Manhattan back to having electricity. The parks reopened, the main port in the city was working again and millions of gallons of gasoline was expected to start flowing to gas stations that had run dry.
But outside Manhattan, in the hardest hit neighborhoods of Queens and Staten Island as well as along the Jersey Shore and on Long Island, it was just the latest day to struggle through, working to both recover and rebuild after the storm.
More than 100 people in the United State died as a result of Hurricane Sandy, which struck the East Coast on Monday.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said Saturday in a briefing that while progress was being made, there was much to be done.
“We are getting through it,” he said. “The worst is behind us.”
Along with the power coming on for more residents, Mr. Cuomo said that 80 percent of the subway service had been restored and that Manhattan had been reconnected by subway to Queens and Brooklyn.
And while the governor and Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, tried to reassure residents that gasoline supplies were on the way, long lines were reported Saturday at stations in New York and New Jersey.
“Long lines will get shorter,” Mr. Schumer said. “Hot tempers will go down.”
In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie has imposed gas rationing, which starts at noon Saturday, leading to reports of drivers hurrying to fill up before the deadline. Drivers will be allowed to buy gasoline every other day.
A government survey conducted on Friday showed that nearly two-thirds of the stations in the metropolitan region were out of fuel. Mr. Cuomo urged patience and said that the situation would improve soon.
Since the New York City port reopened, fuel has once again started to flow through the system. Mr. Cuomo said eight million gallons of gas was being delivered to stations and he expected 28 million gallons to be distributed through the weekend. The Department of Defense was also stepping up its efforts to deliver fuel and will be bringing 12 million gallons of gas to the region over the weekend, setting up distribution depots to help ease the crunch at gas stations.
The most visible sign of progress came throughout the night, as New York City, once divided between light and dark, was united again.
As of Saturday morning, about 5,800 customers in Manhattan remained without power.
Just as significant as the return of power itself was what it meant for every other aspect of the recovery, specifically transit. As the power returns, subways can start running their full routes, and one of the biggest logistical problems caused by the storm will begin to be improved.
Throughout the night Friday, as lampposts, streetlights and storefronts flickered to life, cheers could be heard across whole neighborhoods.
In Lower Manhattan, the power restoration started around 5 p.m. on Friday in the East Village. The network there, known as Cooper Square, serves about 67,000 customers between 14th and Canal Streets. The Chelsea neighborhood sparked to life about 45 minutes later, bringing back power to an additional 25,000 customers between 14th and 31st Streets on the West Side.
The next big network came back to life around 7:30 p.m., when 30,000 customers east of Fifth Avenue between 14th and 31st Streets were once again able to turn on their lights.
Throughout the night, Consolidated Edison’s crews moved to make good on a promise that company executives made to restore power to all of Manhattan before Saturday. As each network came online, they got a bit closer to getting power back to all 220,000 people below 39th Street who lost it.
By morning, they had largely succeeded. There was work to be done on the Fulton Network, which is important to the subway system as well, and 65 buildings damaged in the storm would remain without power until crews could get to them individually, a Con Edison spokesman said.