Posted Monday, August 29, 2011 --- 3:30 p.m.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Some traders at the New York Stock Exchange said good-night to Irene by sleeping above the trading floor to be there for Monday's opening bell.

It rang on time at exactly 9:30 -- to applause.

Outside, sandbags were removed from subway gratings on Wall Street as fears eased that Irene might drive New York Harbor waters into the nation's financial hub.

Larry Leibowitz, the stock exchange's chief operating officer, told The Associated Press huge efforts were made "to make sure people got to work."

Leibowitz says the exchange brought in dozens of cots so employees could sleep there, including families forced to evacuate from the nearby waterfront.

Some even spent the night in the board room. Then they got a free breakfast, right on the trading floor.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.