Yesterday’s ferry accident at Staten Island, which officials said last night had killed 10 and injured dozens more, is another sad blow to a city that had been battered badly over the past few years. Starting with September 11, progressing through an economic downturn and the blackout, it’s been a tough stretch for New York.

Mayor Bloomberg did the right thing in leaving the Yankees-Red Sox game and heading right to the scene yesterday. He was a steadying presence at Staten Island. At nearby hospitals and at the ferry terminal, some of the post-September 11 disaster planning seemed to come in handy.

The first reaction of the city will naturally be to mourn those killed and to pray for the recovery of those injured. But today is not too early to begin asking some of the questions that arise after such an event. Could stricter screening procedures for ferry captains — drug or alcohol testing, psychological or other medical screening — have prevented yesterday’s crash? Do privately run ferry systems, like Arthur Imperatore’s New York Waterway, have better safety records than the Staten Island Ferry, which is run by the New York City Department of Transportation? Should any special precautions be taken when the ferry is operating in high wind conditions, as it was yesterday? Could the ferry somehow be automated to slow down when approaching the shore?

The response to the disaster will be judged not only by the way the wounded were treated and families were consoled yesterday, but by how quickly and clearly these policy questions are answered.