Após os atentados terroristas de 11 de setembro de 2001 nos EUA, Bono passou à cantar uma versão diferente da canção "New York", modificando sua letra nas performances ao vivo durante shows da Elevation Tour.
Abaixo esta considerada versão 2 da canção:
A letra alternativa na íntegra, reescrita por Bono para as performances ao vivo:
In New York freedom
Feels like too many choices
In New York I found some friends
To drown out the other voices
Voices on a cell phone
Voices from home
Are you ok, baby
Don't stay in alone
New York
I love New York
In New York summers get hot
Well into the hundreds
You can't walk around the block
Without a change of clothing
Come September, a lot can change
Summer's love turns to winter's pain
New York
I just got a place in New York
New York
New York
In New York you can forget
Forget how to sit still
And in New York you can't forget
Just how strong that city's will
New York, New York, New York
New York, New York, New York
The Irish have been coming here for years
Acting like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall, concrete, asphalt
They even got the police
Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics
But religious nuts and political fanatics don't belong
New York's singing a different song
New York
New York, New York, New York
New York, New York, New York
New York
In New York I had a problem
Call it a mid-life crisis
It's not really a problem
Just too many choices
I hit an iceberg in my life
But you know I'm still afloat
I lost my balance but you lost your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat
You gotta put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York
New York, New York
New York, New York
In the stillness of the evening
When the sun has had its day
I heard your voice whispering
Come away now
New York
New, New York, New York